Vintage-Red- Bling = ME!

Last weekend I participated in National Scrapbook Day challenges over at Scrapbook.com. I had so much fun, but I've got to say, I don't like the pressure to create in a set amount of time. :)  This mini book was a week long challenge we had to create all about ourselves. It had to be at least 5 pages and could be in any size or format we wanted. Of course I knew I had to go with my beloved color RED! I pulled out all my favorite papers and cut away! The hardest part for me was trying to find pictures I wanted to use in my book. I knew I wanted it to be about my happy place, but for the life of me I couldn't find decent pictures to use of my family and friends-I got very frustrated for sure. Finally on Monday evening I decided to go with vintage images I have gathered from the web-that's when it all came together for me.

Red roses, more red roses, ribbon, lace, buttons, and awesome paper-can't get better than this!

 To know me is to know I adore kitties and chocolate and don't think I could face like without either one! All the images I used are from Vintage Resources and The Graphics Fairy. I actually have this kitty print on a tin sign hanging in my home.

I love the ballet, even though I don't talk about it often. My favorite ever is of course the Nutcracker, but not just any one, I love the one The Pacific Northwest Ballet does-it's amazing!  And who would I be if I didn't craft constantly? Kinda hard to find a vintage image of scrapbooking....  The red ribbon around the ballerina is more seam binding I colored and pleated myself.

Roses are my all time fav! As for the beach, I wish I could live there (a warm one mind you) my whole life! Nothing relaxes me more than the sound of the ocean and the feel of sand on my feet!

 Ok, so who doesn't love having lunch and hanging out with their girlfriends-I know I do! Of course I HAD to add lots of bling to this page. Yes, I know I left out the kids, honestly it's because I couldn't find an image that represented them. This red embossed paper is part of a core'dinations pack from Jenni Bowlin Studio-it is so much fun! All the little tags were made on made on my computer, printed out, cut and inked, easy as that!

Finally, the back cover. I decided to go with this beautiful red flocked paper, it needs nothing else!

So there ya have it, a peek into me.....so what makes you happy???

Blessed Good Friday and a New Company to Share

I hope you are all having a very blessed day!

I thought today would be a great day to share with you all a wonderful little company Susan found while she was at a book fair a few weeks ago. I want to support Sarah in every way possible because it's not easy running a business, especially at the ripe old age of 19! Let me introduce you to Sarah who owns Pursenalize It. Her main emphasis is on one-of-a-kind completely customized hand made purses. Susan purchased one from her and I have seen it first hand, it's an amazing work of art!!! She also creates other amazing hand made accessories. Well here's the sincher for me, she also makes Jean Pocket Mini Scrapbook kits! I had Susan pick one up for me, it is so well thought out and planned. Sarah doesn't have them on her webstie yet, but I'm told she will very soon. Here are some pictures of my kit....

Sorry this pic is a little blurry! This is how the kit comes...looks like fun!

This is the kit all spread out....patterned and solid 7 x 7 cardstock, cardboard base pages with adorable little hinges sewn to the edge for binding, each page is clearly labeled. Antiqued binder rings. Denim "ribbons" for tying on the rings. Fully lined jean pockets (can't you just see blinging these babies up?!!!) A templet for punching your holes in the hinge, and finally extra pieces of the cardstock for embellishing or what ever! Oh and of course, very clear and detailed instructions for putting the mini together!

close up of the denim pockets and ribbons

Close up of the cardstock, there are also more pieces of 7 x 7 pale yellow cardstock for adhering to the base pages first. They are each labeled and clearly marked.

Close up of the base pages and extra cardstock.

I can tell you that Sarah has put a LOT of time and work into these kits. I can't wait to put mine together, now I just need to find pictures to put in it! This kit is available in different colors/patterns as well, this is the one Susan picked for me. Isn't it the cutest thing EVER! I will be putting a link to Sarah and Pursenalize It on our blog, go give Sarah some love girls!

Sweet Mini-Book for my Sweet Goddaughter!

Here is my second mini-book.....I have to say, these are addicting! Connie has been such an inspiration, sharing her ideas and techniques, and of course her passion! So, without further ado....

Here is the cover. I made this for my sweet little goddaughter, Kenna Grace. As you will soon see, she is a treasure!
This is the first layout. Look at those tiny little feet! On the journaling box, I wrote out Psalm 139:13-16, one of my favorite passages!
Sweet! This is my cousin, his wife, and baby Kenna. They really are such a sweet family! I love how the pocket turned out on this one!
What a sweet baby! Don't you just want to snuggle her?! I love this page. I was having a hard time coming up with a way to fit the poem that I wanted on the page in a way that looked nice on the layout. I came up with the idea for the daisy pocket and putting the tag in at an angle worked much better. It ended up being one of my favorite pages.
Here's a closer look at the daisy pocket.
I put the clothesline in for Connie! I think it turned out sweet!
If she isn't precious, I don't know what is!!!
Isn't she adorable?!
Here is the final page. And she is Cute as a Button! This book was SO fun to make!
And this is the back cover. All the paper I used is from K&Company. I used cuts from Kate's ABC's, Paisley, Elegant Edges, and Sentimentals. Thanks for letting me share my book! I hope you like it!

Super adorable mini books

Good morning friends! I wanted to show you the mini books I just finished for my two nieces. My brother and sister in law adopted our dear Kate almost exactly 8 years ago. It took them about 2 years from start to finish because they adopted her from China, she was almost 1 when she finally became part of our family. Now this past Christmas they began the process to adopt another daughter, Morgan. She is 11 and from a town local to where they all live. I wanted a special way to welcome Morgan to the family and celebrate the deep friendship she and Kate have already begun. I guess they are inseparable and so silly!

 So these are the two different covers to the books. I made the books identical except for the tags on the cover and throughout them. Most of the pattern paper was from Cosmo Cricket Mini Deck called DeLovely. I got two of these mini decks and I adore them! The paper was just great for cutting with. The solids were some left overs from a Basic Grey Urban Prairie stack I had and my usual Core'dinations paper I always have on hand. For the girl's names I took some iridescent white paper I had from Hobby Lobby and went to town on it with my alcohol inks. I just love how they turned out, they are so much prettier in person! I used Gypsy Font to weld their names together, it such a great font for welding! The green paper was punched with a Martha Stewart punch around the page set.

 Forever title on this page is from Gypsy Wanderings and embellished with my stickles and a rhinestone of course! The daisy border is from Paper Doll Dress Up. I know you can't tell in this picture but I completely covered this border with white glitter and then added I-Rock jewels to the center of each flower. Crocheted flower was from a stash I've had for years. The center is a basic brad that I glittered. Throughout the books I added double sided blank tags for the girls to write on.

 This set of pages is because both girls love music, especially playing the piano and keyboard. Music notes are from Gypsy Wanderings. Again I glittered parts of the notes so they would really stand out.

 These pages are in honor of Kate and her chickens. She adores them and they are her pets. Apparently she sits and visits with them quite a bit and now Morgan has joined in on that fun too!

 I made the word sweet using Alphalicious and glittered the S just for fun. I think the little chick turned out so sweet, couldn't you just hug her? She's from Create A Critter. Her wings are glittered and her beak and legs were cut with the Core'dinations glittered cardstock-that stuff is so fantastic and easy to cut! Of course Chickie's eyes are more rhinestones.

 This set I decided to just make glittery and girly. Ribbon is some I picked up from Walmart, it is so pretty! Of course I added rhinestones to the ribbon and picture mats. I also stickled the edges of the paper flowers for some extra sparkle. One can never have enough sparkle I say!

 Kate and Morgan both love horses so this is in honor of that love. What young girls wouldn't want a pink sparkle pony? I stickled the mane, tail and hooves of the horse and glittered her bandanna. This horse is from Create A Critter, isn't she FAB?! All the cuts and embellishments in these books are strategically pop dotted so the girls can attach their pictures with out having to remove anything.

 And finally, the back cover...so exciting isn't it?! This was also the first project I made using my new Cinch. It worked like a dream and I am so excited to have a different way to bind my fun little projects now.

I hope you all have a very blessed day!

Fun 6 x 6 Mini Albums

Hi crafters! The last few days I've been busy, busy, busy. At the monthly crop this past Saturday I made my first pre-made mini album. It was so much fun doing a little book where I didn't have to decide what pictures to put in it and where they should go. I made this first one a Valentine's Day theme because we all know I'm a Valentine addict.  The paper was a stack from My Mind's Eye called "Love Nest," I've been drooling over this collection for a few months now. Isn't it just so tweet???!!! The love bird, scalloped circle and rectangles  are from Cindy Loo, the heart with wings is from Create a Critter, and the scalloped ovals are from Sentimentals.

 Sunday and Monday I worked on a recipe mini album (I actually made two at the same time.) I am so happy with how they turned out! This time I used a 6 x 6 mini pad of paper from Basic Grey called Nook and Pantry, such cute paper!!! Some of the solid paper in the book is from Core'dinations and some other Basic Grey paper I already had.  I decided this mini should have a recipe card on one side and an area for a picture on the opposite page. I used Cindy Loo, From My Kitchen, Nifty Fifties, and Sentimentals on this book. I wanted the recipe cards to be on a little tabbed divider, so I added the recipe cards to the dividers with some tiny clothes pins I had laying around. I designed the recipe cards myself in Word and just printed them out on white card stock. I went a little crazy with these books, I just couldn't stop myself! I sewed the edges all the pocket pages. The title on the cover is one I made a while ago on Chloe. I've been dieing to make this retro oven and saying.

 Hope you like! I had so much fun making this minis! I think I'm going to work on our family books for a while now and then make two sister mini's for my neices....shhhhh...don't tell them! :)

Have a very blessed day!