Angry Birds

  No...this isn't anything to do with Alfred Hitchcock. As I am writing this, I am also wondering how many people out there know who Hitchcock is. ( My son had no clue) Which makes me feel a bit old...but then I digress. This is about a silly little phone app. You see, last fall, my husband got me a new android smart phone. After which, we searched the app store to see what fun games we could find. Angry Birds was one of those games. If you have never played, the object of the game is to shoot various types of cartoon birds at some green pigs who hide themselves in strange looking buildings. Sound ridiculous? Well, it is...but, it's also fun and addicting. Which leads me to my next scrapbook page. Both my son and my husband liked the game so much, that at first, I barely got to use my phone. I snapped these photos of my son's cute facial expressions as he was playing the game.

Practical Scrappers March Sketch

I went on-line and found a photo of the game which had the name of the game in it. This enabled me to print it and then fussy cut the title. All of the papers, chipboard and stickers are from Crate Paper's Seasons collection. I chose them because of the birds. I only had one chipboard bird and I wanted to give the impression of the birds flying across the page. So I used the chipboard shape to trace and then cut out additional birds from the paper.  I used a white gel pen and a Martha Stewart white chalk marker to add the bird's details. My sew easy left a series of holes which simulated the birds' movement.

Scrapfit workout#40 - sketch

Having a little green pig on the page was a must. So I cut a small circle, added a green chipboard button and hand cut some ears. With some google eyes added, I now had a cute pig for my page.
 So...if you have a smart phone and have yet to try it, I highly recommend angry birds. If your family catches on and steals your phone, well...take some photos and scrap them while you wait to get your phone back.
 

Scrap Our Stash Pagerize Challenge #8

When I was a child, I learned my times tables by rote memorization. I recall hating it! While it did work for me, when it came time to homeschool my son, rote memorization was just not his way. He is always in motion, constantly chattering and just seems to need to "do" to learn. So we opted for some multiplication games. I think maybe it takes him a little longer this way than if I made him sit down and memorize everything. Then again, maybe not, because he'd fight me the whole way. Either way, we are having a ton more fun together. I documented it with this page. We are playing multiplication UNO. It's the same as regular UNO only you choose a multiple and work through it as you play. For example, every number card you draw is multiplied by 3. So if you  play a four then you multiply it by three. When we first start out, my son gets to use a chart. As we advance, the chart goes away. He sees the problem, hears the problem and says the problem and his hands are active. It's a win- win scenario!

Pagerize this Scraplift #8- of Helena

White acrylic paint with doodled black pen made a great border for this page.I then cut some K and co. ticket style border strips apart and used scraps of Sasafrass and crate paper as accents. The brown ribbon is unknown. The scallop was a scrap of a crate paper border. I inked a Sassafrass paper whimsy card. It reminded me of the symbol for multiplying. I added some patina glimmer mist for some fun flair.

On Top of Spaghetti

...all covered with cheese...yes, that silly song kept playing through my head as I made these next few pages. Silly as that can be, music can help bring about cool titles for a page. So I went with it. It worked well, as my son was also "on top" of what it takes to cook spaghetti and meatballs. He is becoming quite the cook and had insisted on cooking this for me and my husband.

These pages were made for the " you've been framed" challenge at the
Counterfeit  kit challenge blog using my March kit.

Cooking is a great skill to have. While I love him being just the age he is, I can not help but think that some day, these moments of learning to cook will be useful when he's out on his own.

Waiting for the World Record

  Last summer, we enjoyed the opportunity to witness a Guinness world record.That was something I thought we'd never get to do  and quite honestly, not something I thought to ever seek out. However, when a local resort heralded the opportunity to watch Nick Wallenda break his own world record, we decided it would be a nice family outing. We chose to sit at one of the resort's outdoor cafes. We enjoyed a pizza and some virgin frozen daquiris while we waited for the main event. After about a half an hour, Nick Wallenda made his appearance. He first walked across the tight rope about 260 feet in the air without a safety net. After which, He rode a bicycle across, thereby breaking his own world record.
 To commemorate this event, I chose some of Crate paper's restoration line from my Counterfeit kit  challenge March kit.I liked the bright fun colors and the vintage feel. I went on-line to Vintage Printables and found some wonderful vintage style circus posters.

submitted to Artastic Inspiration challenge blog
note the small bear riding a white horse on the vintage poster
also submitted to the Chopped Challenge for week 2 at Challenge Masters

I drew scallops and then filled them with white paint. The white paint with Bic mark it's Fandango pink and Summer melon reminded me of circus clown make up. I hand made the flowers using cardstock scraps, a prima flower and artsylicious brads. The tutorial for those can be found here at the Making Memories blog. Twinery lemondrop twine was stretched across both pages to symbolize the high wire.

Sassy Lil Sketch 3-7-11

Overall, it was a fun page for me to make. The colours are somewhat feminine and ones that I do not normally get to use. Yet here, with both the circus theme and the resort setting, they serve as a fun accent to the story of watching a world record in the making.

Frugal Friday Tip: Tin Can Recycling

  Last November, I got a Sizzix Texture Boutique. While I love what I can do with it, I really have not used it to its fullest potential. When I saw a recent tutorial about using soda cans and punches, I had the idea to dust off the texture Boutique and embossing folders to see what I could come up with. The results were quite wonderful!

Materials: Embossing machine and folders
               soda cans, rinsed out
               old scissors
               a Bic Mark it or other permanent marker
              optional: a child ( My son likes to use my embossing machine. So I cut the soda cans while he worked      
                 the machine.My son thinks this is great fun. )

You will need to carefully cut a slit into the can. Then remove the top and bottom. You are left with a curled piece of aluminium. Then it's just a matter of placing this into an embossing folder and putting it through the machine. I would just advise caution since the can is a little sharp after you cut it.

We experimented with a variety of designs. Some look better than others. You can use some punches to create your own shapes or use the permanent marker to draw a design of your choice.Then use old scissors to cut it out. The marker also comes in handy to draw an inked look to the edges of your cut shape.

I found glue dots to be the best way to adhere the shapes to my page. It's also very easy to punch holes  for brads with your paper piercing tool. You could also conceivably choose to hand stitch on your metal embellishment. I plan to dust off my alcohol inks to see how well they would look on my newly embossed designs.

Sassy Lil Sketches 3-14-11 design
Cream Acrylic paint
MME paper
Maya road Chipboard motif inked in Colorbox black ink
Paper Trunk Carson, black alphas
Black paint stamped with a round lid
DMC floss

All in all...a wonderful and inexpensive way to make your own page embellishments and recycle. If you have a Frugal Friday tip like this one, please share it at Scrap Our Stash.

Closer to Fine

  I don't normally scrap about the bad things. Scrapbooking, to me, is all about the happy memories. There are some times where the less than happy finds its way into my album. This was one of those occasions. Our family cat, Boo, is still quite young. He just turned two. Last fall, he was diagnosed with kidney crystals. We had noticed him begin to act a little odd. He is normally quite playful. On the night I took this photo, all he wanted was for my husband to hold him.I had no idea how sick he was.

Both pages made with items from my March Counterfeit Kit

Sketch Inspiration #212

The next morning,  he was in quite a bit of discomfort, barely able to walk. When I felt his abdomen, I could feel a large lump as though he had a blockage. I rushed him to the vet. The diagnosis seemed a simple fix...medicine and a surgery to remove the crystals. It should have been quite simple, but neither the vet nor I expected we would be embarking on a 4 month long stint of infections, surgical complications and extended care. At times, we were not sure he would make it. By Christmas, my son's big Christmas wish was for Boo to get better.

Sassy Lil Sketch 3-21-11

Through all of it, Boo remained sweet and loving. He was not always capable of keeping himself clean. He always purred when I sponge bathed him. At times, he had no bladder control. So we kept him in a pet diaper. I never thought in a million years I would be diapering a cat. Finally, mid-January, Boo got back his spark of life. He woke up one day, ate a huge meal and then started to play. It was then that we knew he would be just fine. He's back to his old self and has gained back all of the weight he lost. In fact, I truly believe he is even more affectionate than ever.
  During the months of not being sure, I was afraid to scrap about Boo's condition. It's probably silly, but I felt  that I might scrap he was ok and then we would lose him. He is a large part of our family, even if he is a cat. When I saw the current challenge for Scrapping the Music,I thought the song would be the perfect title. Finally, he fought through each day, each complication bringing himself and our family a little "closer to fine".

Simple Can Be Stunning

  With so many embellishment options, it's no wonder that I often will sit and tweak a page to the umpth degree. It's so easy to become lost in my stash as old embellishments become new found, exciting ones. Which items will make the page look the best? Sometimes though, I am reminded that less is more and simple can be stunning. This was the case with a recent piece of inspiration from Etsy. As I perused the multitude of possibilities, I came across this simple advertisement for a set of paintings:

Love Birds sitting on a Branch by Shannacreations

Looking at it, I was struck by the way the paintings looked against the background. I wanted to replicate this look on a page. I chose some bright green Bazzill cardstock and 3 photos of my cat playing.

made with items from March's counterfeit kit challenge

I placed the title in the spot where the painting description was placed on the photo. Simple, easy and fast. I really liked the way it looked! I imitated the design on the second page, improvising a bit by adding a second set of photos.

The bright green paper really helped the photos stand out. Simple lets your photos be the star of the page...as they should be.

Stylish Blogger Award

How cool is this?!?! I opened up a comment to find that I had received the Stylish Blogger Award from Melissa at Mel's Happy Scrappy Place. I really am honoured to receive it. Thank you, Melissa for choosing me and thank you to all my followers for supporting my blog!

Here are a few rules when a blog receives this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share 8 things about yourself.
3. Give the award to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award

Now for part 2 of the award...8 things about me.

1. I have only seen real snow  a handful of times in my life.

2. Though I live near the beach, I am not a beach person. I'll go if everyone else goes, but I prefer hiking in the woods or swimming in coldwater springs.

3.I do like to snorkel.

4. I used to be allergic to cats, but now I am not. When I rescued one of my first cats, I realized I was adjusting to having her in the house. I am glad because I did not want to giver her up.

5. I like to travel and wish I had the money to go more places.

6. Some of my current favourite tv shows are Burn Notice, Dexter and the Walking Dead.

7. I am not a big fan of reality TV.

8. Every morning my cat decides she want to sit on my shoulders. She is draped around me like a scarf as I type this.

In true stylish blogger fashion, I would like to share with you some of the creative musings of some other talented ladies. I hope you will pop by and check out their blogs:

Dana at http://scrappingtherapy.blogspot.com/
Jennifer at http://scrapdrawer.blogspot.com/
Denise at http://lalasworldblog.blogspot.com/
Fia at http://sketchesforyou.blogspot.com/
Kathy at http://scrappinpsycho.blogspot.com/
Kaori at http://scrapgarden-kao.blogspot.com/
Melissa at http://aussiescrapper68.blogspot.com/
Mitsue at http://scrapnana.blogspot.com/

Winter Sunshine

  Spring is pretty much here, although, where I live, it feels like summer. We haven't really had a spring this year. Nor did we really have fall in 2010. The weather has been either really hot or really cold with no in between. The only reason that I know it's spring is because of the calendar, tax season and the time change. All of which has left me feeling tired and overworked. I find myself falling asleep during homeschool or down about things in general. Spring is supposed to be about renewal. So when did spring become all about taxes and time? As my son says, " the older you become, the more the magic and wonder of childhood goes away." He wonders at adults who end up constantly being serious and he tells me he does not want to grow up. I really can't say I blame him for feeling as he does. However, as I told him last night, as he lamented the fact that he was not sure there were real leprechauns( he recently discovered that his parents play the part of leprechaun and Easter bunny), sometimes we have to find our own magic and wonder amidst the daily grind of life. For me, the magic and wonder lies in the relationship I have with my husband and son. I see it when I am with them and then relive it through the pages I scrapbook.
   Speaking of which...today I have chosen to revel in the remembered warmth of some winter sunshine. I live in a tropical climate. That means, on one day, you may find yourself snuggled in a jacket for an overcast day with 50 degree weather( I know that's not cold to all of you, but it is to me). Then on the next day, the weather is warm and sunny enough to go for a swim at the beach.

Two Peas in a Bucket Stretch Your Sketch

I captured these moments last December and chose to scrap them using my counterfeit kit.The Sassafrass paper reminded me of the sun. I chose a pink cardstock to lend the page a tropical feel. The brown brought back a stronger, masculine touch.
    For " Down by the harbor", I again chose the Sassafrass papers. I reversed my Cosmo Cricket papers to reveal a brown, sea gull like pattern. We were eating out at a harborside restaurant and my son wanted to see if sea gulls liked onion rings.Since gulls are not present in the photos, the imagery of the patterned paper was perfect.

Scraphappy.org March 15 minute LO

Though I like grid style layouts a lot, I am usually not very proficient with them. I can measure with all of my tools, but somehow, I am always a little off kilter. I have learned to be ok with that. On this particular page, I used journalling strips to hide my slightly off balanced sections of the grid.
  Now I am off to hide my son's shoes before he wakes up. After all, it's what a leprechaun would do. Just because he knows I am the leprechaun doesn't mean the fun has to stop, right? Happy ST. Patrick's day!

Scrap Our Stash March Challenge: Dusting off Inspiration

   When the  " Dust It Off" March challenge was announced  at Scrap Our Stash, I started rummaging through my stuff wondering what item I should dust off. Should it be the heat embossing tool that I rarely use? How about finally getting out my sewing machine? It has been sitting in my closet unused for years and I have always wanted to try sewing on paper. How about those stacks of snaps? I really had wanted them in so many colors and have used so few. As I continued to shuffle and organize my things, I came across a stack of old magazines, many of them dated all the way back to 2007. That's when a realization hit me. I always like to bookmark pages I want to scraplift. Yet...when was the last time I had done just that.
  Often times, a new magazine comes out, I get excited to read it and so I file the old one away to use later. The same goes with on-line inspiration. I see a page at a website or gallery and save it in an idea file on my computer. I just never go back and use the ideas I have gathered. So I decided that for this challenge, the first thing I would do, before dusting off my tools and supplies, would be to dust off some of my inspiration.
  My first choice came from the February/March 2008 edition of Scrapbooks ETC. It's " one more page you can put together in a  flash".

Fancy Pants papers, border and stickers
Creative Memories alphabet
Making Memories tiny type alphas

I really like these simple 15 minute style pages. The basic design bones are right there...just add photos and embellies and you are done., literally, in a flash. Making quick pages like this is helping me learn to spend less time choosing supplies. I make decisive, quick decisions and am able to scrap faster.

quick tip: If you have older sticker or alphas, update them with glossy accents(or similar product). Glossy accents is a clear adhesive. When you layer it over an older sticker or even a paper die cut shape, you can create those more modern epoxy looking stickers that so many of us love. On the page above, I dusted off some 8 plus year old Creative Memories alphabet stickers and added glossy accents to the top.

 For my second page, I chose to dust off some Internet inspiration. I am sorry to say that I do not know who made this wonderful page. I have had it for at least a few months in my computer file. Whoever you are...thank you for this gorgeous page to inspire me:

Now here is my take:



Cosmo cricket papers, die cut, and border stickers
October afternoon rub on letters, papers, and made with love sticker
Foof a la buttons
Bic Mark it in woodsy brown

 I chose to hand stitch versus machine stitch.I should have dusted off my sewing machine but I was a bit too lazy to drag it out of the closet. I used my 3-d adhesive to add a little pop to some of my fussy cut elements.

Quick tip: the words Cherry Pie in the title are actually the name of the paper. I often look at the strips with the paper name to see if I can use them on a page somewhere. I hate throwing anything out. In this case, they were exactly what was needed in the title.

Now, I invite you to dust off not just tools or supplies, but the things that inspire you. Share your projects with us here at Scrap Our Stash!







Counterfeiting and Catnip

  Catnip...who knows why a cat loves it so much?!?! I know my cats love it, but I sure hate the mess! We recently discovered the catnip ball. I love it almost as much as my cats do...almost. I captured these photos of my cat. She knew the catnip was in our suitcase for her, and once we gave it to her, she immediately commenced coveting her newest treasure. She rolled around with it, cuddled it, and then proceeded to lick it. It's messy, but not nearly as much as the sprinkle kind. So I foresee more of these in her future.

Scraphappy.org March 2011 Sketch
Submitted for Scrapfit's Workout#39

As far as the pages I created regarding Sweetpea's love of the catnip ball. Well, I used items from my counterfeit kit.I decided to use yellow cardstock. Yellow is my least liked and thus least used paper color. It however, seemed to beckon me as I checked my cardstock stash. It was the perfect base color, adding some bright flair to the earthy, catnip type tones I had chosen.

  You may recall a circle stamp in one of the Studio Calico add on kits. Well, sad to say it...but I don't own said circle stamp. I set out to find something in my collection to come close to it.The best option I came up with was to stamp circles. I don't have circle stamps...but I do have a collection of lids in varying sizes.

Three sizes worked best for the pattern I chose here. I used lids from my Oil of Olay eye cream tube, a water bottle and a hair spray bottle. I recommend keeping an eye out for usable lids in your home. There are some neat shapes out there...like the oval from my deodorant,or the oddly rounded squarish shape from my dog's food container, the flower shaped lid from my son's juice... I admit. I am a lid collector. I do recommend washing your lids thoroughly with soap and water before using them on your page. Or, if you are lazy like me ( I like to think of it as spending time on more creative endeavours), you can stick them in your dishwasher. The lids are great for stamping with paint or ink onto paper. In this case, I chose to paint onto the cardstock and then to use the lids to stamp brown circles onto the page.

Pencil Lines Sketch 228

I rather like the effect of these stamped circles. It adds a fun organic feel to the page and corresponds to the theme of a catnip ball. I wish my photo editing brought out the true yellow tone of the base Cardstock. I enjoyed using fussy cut flowers from the Crate Paper Season collection along with the matching chipboard accents, embellishments and stickers for a whimsical, feminine touch. Christmas red stickles added a little flair on both of the pages.

I really love my first two pages. However, I can't stop here...I have a ton of other items in my counterfeit kit to use up. Off I go...

The Cat in the Hat...a Pagerize this challenge from Scrap Our Stash

  When I saw Joni's page at Scrap Our Stash, I really loved the hand sewn grids and the diagonal layout of her design. As I perused my photos, I decided this photo of my husband and son in front of the Cat in the Hat ride at Islands of Adventure would be perfect for such a fun page. I also immediately grabbed my Echo Park summertime papers. I thought the fun, bright colors were a perfect match for a page about the Cat in the Hat. 

As I worked on the page, I realized that I was not digging a grid design with this photo. I wanted it to be a little less structured, so I substituted the hand stitched, streamer like lines.  I dusted off some white tags and stars. The chipboard star and the die cut red and yellow stars are so old I don't know who makes them. I think I bought the die cuts when my son was 2 years old! Eight years hidden in my stash! That is way too long to not be used! 

  Theme park photos sometimes mean that strangers get into your shot...no matter how hard you try! I hid the extra people with some strategically placed journal strips.

Now it's your turn...Pagerize Joni's page and share it here. Try dusting off a technique or a few supplies while you are at it! we can't wait to see what your project!

March's Counterfeit kit- Into the Woods

  I will be the first to admit that I went WAY overboard with this kit. I am finding that while shopping my stash, the same "must have" impulsiveness that sometimes hits me while shopping in real life scenarios is very evident here. It's a good thing it IS my stash...or hubby would be broke! Looking at what I chose this month, I know there is NO way I will use it all...but it's going to be fun trying to!
  This month's Counterfeit kit challenge  was inspired by Studio Calico's Into the Woods Kit. For my main kit, I chose to mimic the colour and nature theme as closely as possible. I have a lot of Sassafrass, so this was a wonderful opportunity to use some of that paper up.many of the papers I chose were double sided so I can get more bang for my buck, so to speak.

Papers: Cosmo Cricket- earth Love/Recycle,Artsylicious fine illustrated paper in chocolate
sassafrass-apple jack/translate, life is Beautiful/intertwined, Serendipty/chirp, chirp, brown paper
and cherry delicious
alphas: K and co. actopus to zed( loved the wood grain) and pink paislee in chocolate
tags from scrapbook ID in tangerine
Frames from k and co.
K and co. transparency
K and co. journal spots
My Mind's eye chipboard journal stickers
K and co. green stack chipboard ( for the owls, mushrooms, birds and wood grain pieces)

Since money is no object, I chose to have ALL of the add on kits. Why not?!?! Right? For the Babbling Brook add on, I thought some of my Basic Grey papers would closely match the pattern and colour. I chose Crate Paper's showers since this matched the water theme of the kit. Since I had a lot of the matching embellies, those popped into the kit as well.

Basic Grey papers: offbeat's nonchalant and casual
Crate paper: Season collection winter and showers, die cut paper- cloudy
Making Memories Passport alphas ( as a substitute for the handwritten paper)
Kaiser craft mini alphas in chocolate and white
American crafts mini marks rub on alphas in purkey
ribbon-unkown
K and co. brads
Artsylicious fabulous brads in chocolate
7 Gypsies foldover sticker book in Bureau ( as a substitute for the office pockets)
Marcella K adhesive chipboard in Sabrina
Crate Paper Season title stickers and borders

  I don't have anything quite like the circle stamp in the kit.I think I might be able to use my cricut to cut a mask or perhaps some recycled bottle lids to make my own stamp. I shall have to experiment with it.

   Now, for the Mossy Knoll kit... sounds a bit ominous. Or maybe mysterious. If I were buying this kit in real life, this would have been the point at which my budget would have been lost amongst the proverbial tall grasses. I actually made this add on kit before I made the others. I was searching to find a page with the blue stripes similar to the actual Studio calico kit. This is when  had my Eureka moment. The crate paper season kit was a perfect set to incorporate with  the sassafrass papers and nature theme.It had the right colours and a fun whimsical tone which went well with the Sassafrass papers.

Crate paper:  restoration ruffles( as a substitute for the calendar die cut)
Crate Paper die cut- restoration-Cents
Crate paper: seasons- Fall and Love papers
Sassafrass; Life is Beautiful-golden love and apple Jack
Crate Paper Season chipboard accents, plus restoration bicycle
Crate Paper Seasons art brads
Making Memories Chloe's Closet green leather frame
Making Memories Chloe's Closet clips-2
Prima lace
Webster's pages lace
ribbon unknown
Crate Paper Prudence Glitter borders
Crate paper prudence Alpha twist
K and co. Borders
Making Memories Paperie Greenhouse felt clips

I added some of the crate paper restoration papers to add the vintage feel of the original kit. I don't have any circus theme pages planned. If I change my mind, I might go out on the world wide web to find some vintage images to print off. One of my favourite sites for free vintage printables is found here.

  The sunny Clearing... The name connotes warmth. So I set out to duplicate the warm feeling of the original kit as best as I could. I noticed that Studio Calico used some Cosmo cricket paper. I don't have the fish tales paper, but I  do have Snorkel. I chose a sun and a bicycle from that collection. There is less paper here, b/c the gingham papers I have do not coordinate well with the other papers I have chosen. So I compensated with extra embellies.

Crate Paper: Season- friendly paper
Crate paper; restoration- fringe( has a wonderful orange pattern on the back)
Sassafrass: Life is Beautiful- rose thicket( a wonderful warm rose pattern on the back)
Pink Paislee Old school glitter alpha
Crate Paper restoration border stickers
Cosmo Cricket: snorkel collection- bicycle/lazy days and sunshine
Crate Paper chipboard flower border
Artsylicious deluxe brads
red crochet flower- from Ikea, it's a curtain decoration
Fancy Pants write now rub on's
Making Memories Chloe's closet square gem stickers
Fancy pants ric racs-red, yellow and cream
homemade red flower
crochet lace- unkown
Sassafrass in stitch blossoms-orange
Jillibean Soup clear stamps- top ten
Making Memories Chloe's Closet tags- 3
Making Memories Chloe's closet paper clips and clips

And now for the final kit.... wild flower. Since I have a boy, the original was too floral for me. I toned it down a bit with the more masculine colours and whimsical flowers of the crate paper Season collection.

Sassafrass paper- yellow hearts
Crate paper : Seasons- Spring and Summer
Crate paper; prudence-discretion paper
Crate paper Season journal stickers
Crate Paper Seasons rub ons
Maya Road Fresh chipboard-motifs
Artsylicious Splendid treasures in chocolate
Making Memories ribbons and trims
Cosmo Cricket lil. man ribbon

I had more trim than I originally intended. I just could not decide which one to pick...so I picked them all!
Now it's time to see what I can create with this kit. I already have a few pages in mind and with my husband having a three day weekend, I have plenty of time.

Chances Are...

only what we make them. Some people look at life and see the negative. Others, find the positive. I think perspective gives us the ability to make our own happiness and luck. I try to see the good and have a positive outlook. I feel very lucky to have my husband and my son. Our life isn't always easy...but we are happy together. My husband often says we live a charmed life. I think that is true
    The song for this week at Scrapping to the music was perfect for this page. The lyrics brought to life some of the journaling I used to talk about the wonderful chance my husband had in his job.

SEI mimosa papers and stickers inked with SEI lime ink
Basic Grey brads
October Afternoon mini market alphas
Making memories greenhouse alphas
glossy accents
Let's Scrap Sketch 3-2-11

The photo is of the hotel in which my husband works. The number was the number of his office at the time of the photo. I chose SEI's mimosa line. It's usually hard for me to work with pink, because I am the only female in the house(other than my cat). I loved how the Mimosa papers matched the tropical feel of the hotel.

Be grateful for everyday and for what you have. Don't forget to make the most of your chances and to share those in your scrapbooks.

The Better I Become...

...as a scrapbooker, the more savvy I become at doing more with less supplies. I need to remember this with future purchases. Less can definitely mean more. I made a total of 8 pages for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge this month. I am well satisfied with my work. I did use up a lot of supplies...just not as much as I had hoped or anticipated. It was fun shopping my stash. I am now anticipating the announcement of the next kit challenge. My zip loc bag sits empty and at the ready. I am sure I will fill it full like I did last month. I just need to challenge myself to make more pages with it.

Meanwhile, the remnants of February's kit await being placed back into their respective spots in my stash.