February 15, 2011
January 28, 2011
Welcome Hoppers! I'm So Glad You're Here!
Love is in the air and the Challenge Masters Divas are celebrating by having a blog hop!
The hop is going to run from Friday, January 28th until Sunday, January 30th. And, we have lots of prizes, fun and inspiration in store for you this weekend!
If you have arrived from Marianne's blog you are right on track. For those of you who just popped in and you want to start at the beginning then head over to Tammy's blog to get started.
Collect all the secret words!
That's right.
Each Diva has posted a secret word on her blog.
All you need to do is collect all the words,
rearrange them to form the secret phrase,
and then send your answer to [email protected]
to be entered to win one of TWO amazing Grand Prizes!
Here's MY secret word:
In addition to the incredible Grand Prizes, each Diva is giving away blog prizes as well. So, make sure you HIT all the blogs and leave some LOVE so you'll have multiple chances to win!
Another way to win, is to create your own LOVE inspired project and upload it to the 'Love Is In The Air' album in the Challenge Masters Gallery before Sunday, February 13th. Remember it can be anything you love ... a person, a place, a thing, a hobby..whatever inspires you. You won't want to miss a chance to win a fabulous prize package so enter as many times as you'd like. Just make sure you create a new project with each entry! Then, after careful deliberation the Grand Prize winner will be announced on the Challenge Masters blog!
I've been having a blast serving as the ScrapLift Diva for the past couple of months. There's so much inspiration to be found on all the scrappy blogs out there. Recently, I clicked on Julia Stainton's blog, via SplitCoast Stampers, and was immediately drawn to her page title here.
And, although it wasn't done for ANY challenges, I was inspired to create my own 'Always' page.
it's funny how things happen. I ran out of white thread a week or so ago and my sewing machine has been sitting 'threadless'. But, I tried using the naked needle treatment on a card recently and loved how simple it was and how cool the piercing looked. So, I ran the background red cardstock through my machine, piercing a double border along the edge.
I love adding layers and textures to my pages. One of my favorite techniques is to use painted cardboard as a photo mat. I recently shared this technique with my blog readers. In case you missed it you can find it here. Super easy to do and I love the dimension it adds to layouts!
What a fun project to work on! It's nice to be reminded that no matter what, I'll always have a Valentine.
HEY!
You wanna win a prize?
How about a Basic Grey Grab Bag full of FIFTY delicious Basic Grey patterned papers?
All you have to do is look here. Then leave a comment and tell me which one is your favorite ... and why. Simple enough, huh! Your name will go into the cute Valentine mailbox, seen here .... and one of my beloved Minions will choose the winner!
Really happy you took the time to stop by today! But, I know you're busy and you've got LOTS of hopping to do!
Here's a little sprinkling of creative magic to take with you!
Now you are off to Anne's blog for some inky-finger happiness
and more creative LOVE!
January 26, 2011
You 'Lift' Me Up!
We all can use a little inspiration from time to time. For me ... Josh Groban ALWAYS does it! hehehe
When it comes to scrapping, inspiration is everywhere. That's what happened when I saw Lynne's 'Got Health' layout in the CM gallery. It was the lime green that caught my eye. That and the delicious looking fruit bouquet. I loved that she pulled her colors from her photo, loved the multi photo design, loved her clean, white journal block, and I loved that she used the actual tag stick that comes with those juicy, fruity Edible Arrangements.
This was the page I chose for January's Scraplift Challenge! Isn't it just yummy? Inspirational? And, because I have added a little 'Twist' to the challenge, the ladies were to use a sold color cardstock as their background that repeated the main color in their photos. They also had to use multi photos that were to be matted with white ... like Lynne did, to highlight the pictures.
I followed Lynne's design pretty closely. Except for a couple of things ... the color, obviously. I pulled the pinks from Breckin's dress and used it as my background. Like Lynne, my background was solid cardstock. And, I mixed up my patterns, too. Using a darker shade of pink for the layered paper behind my photos. Printed my photos with a white border so I didn't have to mat them. Love the crisp, clean look of the white edges. Did a little machine stitching, adhered some cardstock flowers instead of my usual clustered Prima flowers and doodled a fun border around the page. But, my favorite part is the fish. I scanned in the drawing of Breckin's fish, reduced it, printed it on photo paper and trimmed it so it looked like an embellishment on the page! So fun!
This page is about Breckin's fish. Her kindergarten art project was chosen by principal Lee to be displayed on the Principals Corner bulletin board in the main lobby of the school! It was an honor, to be sure, to be praised in front of the whole school and Breckin was so proud! Well, maybe not quite as proud as her Mammy ... but, she WAS beaming from ear to ear all morning!
Way to go, sweetheart! WooHoo!
January 25, 2011
January 22, 2011
Foodies
There's no doubt about it. This family loves to eat. I don't think we can plan an event that doesn't involve food ... either the selection of it, the preparation of it, the location from which we're going to obtain it, who's going to bring it, who's dietary requirements prohibit it .... oh my gosh, it ongoing.
So, when our Diva Master challenged us to scrap a page involving food and our family ... well, I knew I had that subject covered.
Thanksgiving was a perfect example of the obsession we have with food ... and games. Evidently a few of us just couldn't bear to face another meal of the traditional dishes that get served during holiday get-togethers. This would include my mother-in-law's secret family recipe for Shrimp Salad .... a delicious mixture of
salad roni, celery, onion, canned shrimp, mayonnaise and whipped cream! Honestly. That's all that's in it. Well, that and lots of salt and pepper. There's not a Bate in our family who is worth their 'salt' who doesn't LOVE Helen's Shrimp Salad. I mean, come on! She served it to her Bridge Ladies!
I digress. Some members of our family announced that one more bowl full of Shrimp Salad was just more than they could bear. So, it was decided that we would mix things up a bit ... and each person contributing to our Thanksgiving meal would be required to bring something that had never been served to the family before. That way we wouldn't have any of the boring and expected fare that makes Thanksgiving ....well, Thanksgiving.
Okay. Fine. BUT ... some of us LOVE the traditional food! So, we agreed to each bring one of the assigned ... and easy to prepare ... traditional dishes. AND, we would bring a 'surprise' dish, too! That way the people who loved the old stand-by's could have them (Tori, hehehe) ... and those who just couldn't face another spoonful of Shrimp Salad would have the option to have something else. AND ... in our true family tradition .. we'd make a game out of it. After tasting all the new menu items we would VOTE for our favorite and it would be added to next year's menu.
Well, even if all you took was just a spoonful of each it was hard to get everything on your plate! YUM! So, we had brined turkey, smashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and shrimp salad. (All of it was delicious, btw.)
But, it was so fun to see what everyone brought for their 'contest' dish!
Creative minds located the actual Gumbo recipe served in New Orlean's Square in Disneyland ... a true family favorite ...and served it up in a crusty, bread boule!
These cheesy covered squares are actually spicy green tamales! Served up with a kick-ass pork green chili! mmmmmm, good.
These little ramekins were filled with a delicious Pumpkin farfalle pasta with crumbled italian sausage.
Gourmet Mac n' Cheese is all the rage these days. And this one was a huge hit! Especially with the little girls! (Purists please note the bowl of Shrimp Salad in the background. :D)
It was refreshing to have something that WASN'T covered with melted cheese!! bbwwahahaha Chrissy brought along HER family's traditonal Waldorf Salad! Crisp, sweet and delicious!
And, just when you thought you couldn't eat another bite ... there was an amazing broccoli casserole ... creamy and spicy, and a cheesy meatloaf bursting with flavor and simply superb!
It was time to vote. We voted for our top 3 favorites ... but, to be honest it's much like last year's Super Bowl. I don't recall who took second and third. bbwwwahahaha But .... I CAN tell you that .... the Carnivore's WON!!! Duana's Meatloaf took Top Honors! Her spectacular meatloaf won Hand's Down! And, RaKell proudly presented her with our golden spoon award ... lovingly referred to as "Oh No! Not Shrimp Salad Award'.
Omgsh, it was so much fun! We had some fabulous food, full tummies and who knows? Maybe we've started a NEW tradition. But, either way, I just HAD to scrap the memories ...
Afterall ... isn't that what scrapping is about? Preserving those memories ... to help me remember years from now when I'm in 'the home'? bbwwahahaha
I'll share a few other family photos from the day ....
We gathered around the kitchen table to put together a quick jig saw puzzle.
And, watching the football games was made more interesting by the addition of Thanksgiving Eye Spy!
And, of course, it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a blow-up turkey for the table! bbwwwahahaha
January 21, 2011
Addictive Word Play
I may have mentioned this fun website to you a while back, but just in case I didn't ... you've got to check out Wordle.
It's so cool! You just type in a bunch of related words, click the submit button and right before your eyes you'll have a word collage! You can fool around with the style, the colors, even the fonts ... dangerous stuff to be sure!
I made this fun card for Jamilie's Card Challenge. This month she gave us a recipe of ingredients we had to incorporate into our project:
1) Theme: Love, Valentines, Wedding or Wedding Anniversary
2) 2 Patterned Paper
3) Bling (pearl, or rhinestones, etc)
4) Ribbon/Lace
5) Glitter (such as stickles for example)
6) The color blue
7) At least one heart
I saw this list and said, "Oh my gosh! How am I going to get all of this on one card?". But, I did. And, it looks CUTE! Go check out Wordle! It's so much fun!
January 19, 2011
Shabby Deliciousness
Just had to share my excitement! My package from Australia arrived sooner than I expected. And, there was more inside than I could have imagined!
Miss Mandy over at Challenge Masters .... our Shabby Master ... has been creating some gorgeous layouts using this silky hand-dyed binding ribbon. And, she was sweet enough to divulge her source.
Carol Meade is the generous artist who creates all this yummy goodness. You can see her Etsy shoppe at Tattered Inspirations. There's enough there to make a shabby scrapper swoon!
Watch out! There's about to be some distressing, sanding, spritzing, painting, inking madness happening in my scraproom! bbwwahahaha
January 18, 2011
January 17, 2011
Pink and Black Mail
bbwwahahaha You have no idea how stressful it is to come up with creative titles!
February 14th is not far off. And, just because I don't have a Valentine in my life doesn't me that I can't create some stinkin' cute Valentine crafts! This mailbox is a good example of that!
This challenge was to alter a box of some sort using some fabric and ribbon on the project. I discovered this cute little metal mailbox at JoAnn's and thought it would be fun to turn it into a place to hold .... hhhhmmmm, chocolate or Valentine cards or even just shredded tissue!
The pink and green polka dot was some scrap fabric I had left over from some party decorations. The mailbox was a shiny chrome metal thing and I had a heck of a time getting the fabric to adhere smoothly to the metal. Guess I could have primed it first ... but I didn't want to go to that kind of trouble and I didn't want to have to mask off the shiny bits that would show. So, I slathered on a coat of matte finish Mod Podge, wrapped the fabric around the box, then finished with a top coat of Mod Podge.
Once that was dry the rest was pretty easy. Just cut a few strips of patterned paper for trim and black doodle hearts for the end caps. I used Mod Podge to adhere them and to give the whole project a uniform finish. Glued some ric rac and ball fringe on the seams and used my Crop-a-dile to punch a hole for the flag.
The rest was just fun embellishing with some stickers, ribbon scraps, and even some crystal beads for 'feet'. I think this turned out so cute. Don't you?
Now all I need to do is get some chocolate goodies to put inside! bbwwahahaha
January 15, 2011
When Mom Comes To Visit
Love learning new techniques and trying new things on my scrapbook pages. I think that's why the Technique Challenge at CM is one of my favorites. Suzanna, our extraordinary Diva Team Leader, hosts the Technique Challenge. And, this month she shared a quick flower tutorial that we were to use on our challenge project.
1. Punch a circle out of some scrap cardstock. Size doesn't really matter nor does color as this is just to provide a base for your flower and make it easier to adhere to your layout.
2. Cut a strip of fabric with pinking shears. 1" wide for smaller flowers and 1 1/2" wide for larger, or any old size you like!
3. Hand stitch the fabric to the cardstock circle, gathering the fabric in pleats as your move around the circle.
4. Top the flower with felt and buttons with embroidery floss.
Voila! Nothing like a little blossom to brighten up a page. Your challenge is to make at least one fabric flower and use it as an embellie on a page, card or project. Wouldn't a hair clip with one of these be cute?
Omgsh, aren't those flowers so fun? And I just love her sample page. The colors of course .. and the photo of that beautiful little girl. xoxox But, I also loved how she 'stemmed' her flowers with the leaf ribbon! And, she repeated the pinked edge detail of the flowers on the pinked edge of her background cardstock! LOVE that! Thanks, Suzanna, for this fun technique ... and inspirational example!
I set about giving this technique a try. It's not quite as easy as Suzanna makes it sound. I had a bit of trouble getting my flowers to pleat the way her's did. But, practice makes perfect, huh? I'll definitely try this again.
Mom and I were invited to join Justin and Lisa for Christmas Eve dinner at their house. I think it was because Justin wanted more of that brined turkey that I made for Thanksgiving. hehehe We brought brined turkey and 'Not Your Mama's Green Bean Casserole' and Justin and Lisa had made the other traditional dishes we love ... shrimp salad, bubbly baked beans, smashed potatoes, sweet potatoes ... and Lisa's sister, Chrissy brought punkin and apple pies! It was DEEEEE-LISH!
In addition to some fun 'poppers' at each place setting, Justin and Lisa used this stinkin cute elf hat .. with the funniest ears ... as table decoration. When you squeezed the lobe of one of the ears the hat started to dance and sing! It was a picture taken after our wonderful family dinner that inspired this page using Suzanna's Fabric Flower technique.
BBWWWAHAHAHAHA! Isn't this page hilarious? Spritzed the background with some green misting spray. Punched some circles for the border detail. Was tickled to bits to find some patterned paper in my stash that almost matched Mom's shirt perfectly! Added 3 fabric flowers for punch ... some cardboard, strip journaling, rub on letters for the title. So much fun!
Now, honestly ... where else can you go to find a fabulous tutorial for a new technique, a recipe for the world BEST green bean casserole (I actually think it's the sherry and heavy cream that make it soooo good) AND a hilarious scrapbook layout all on one page?
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