Taylor and McKenzie from last December

These pictures were taken in December 2006. Every time my brother and his family come into town, we have pictures taken of all of my kids together for my mom. Here are the layouts that I did with the pictures of my girls in their individual pictures


McKenzie

I actually did this layout at the Mega Crop in October. Very simple........ Products used: Bazzill cardstock, Queen and Company felt fusion and brads, KI Memories paper, Making Memories fabric photo corners, Heidi Swapp flower

Taylor

This one, I did yesterday. I neglected all household duties and sat and scrapbooked all day. Products used: Junkitz paper, Queen and Company felt fusion and brad, Heidi Swap flower, Prima flower, Maya Road Chipboard, Fancy Pants stamps, unknown ric rack (I think I got it from Walmart), Basic Grey chipboard letters, Heidi Swapp bling

Kimberley's 7th Birthday party

I don't do a lot of layouts of my nieces and nephew, but I try to do at least one of each every year and that layout is usually of their birthday parties. Being that I am a year behind in my scrapping, these pictures were taken in January 2006. The kids have grown so much in a year! I didn't really do any special techniques on this layout.

Products used: Bazzill Cardstock, Arctic Frog paper, Stickles, 7Gypsies stickers, rubon stitches, Fancy Pants chipboard, Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge for the "7", handcut shadow for the 7. I also used some tiles from Junkitz that I have had in my stash for probably 3 or more years. The pink photo corners are Heidi Swapp and the red polka dot corners are cut from a frame that I got at Target in the dollar section.

You Got Elfed

I got this idea from http://debbitscraps.blogspot.com/ She gave instructions on how to print a photo from the video on Office Max here http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2448592 I was able to print my picture to do a layout with it. I actually saved several screenshots of this video, it is so funny to watch.


Products used: cardstock, Technique Tuesday chipboard, Making Memories paint, Creative Imaginations pattern paper, Buzz and Bloom chipboard arrow, Stickles. For the snowflakes, I cut them out of cardstock with the Cricut using the Christmas Cheer cartridge. The title is cut using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. The word "elfed" is cut from chipboard. I had a pretty thin piece that I cut out two of every letter then layered them together. I then cut out a third letter of white cardstock and again, layered it on top of the chipboard.

If you would like to see our family "You Got Elfed" video, here is the link:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1800839944

Princess Crown chipboard book

Ok, so my name is Heather and I am addicted to Stickles. Yes, totally addicted. I use them on anything and everything and I can't stop. I used tons of Stickles and glitter on this book. I am not sure what I am going to do with the book yet, I have 3 nieces with birthdays in the next 2 months, so it will probably go to one of them. I wanted to do something, but wasn't in the mood to work on layouts, so I decided to try this instead.

I used lots of different items from my stash for this book. All papers came from KI Memories. The glitter that I used is the Doodlebug Sugar glitter, I love the colors that it comes in. I also used Stickles, rubons, stickers, ink, Cricut Happily Ever after (crown on cover), bling and stamps.

Hannah Montana concert tickets!!!!!!!!

Yay!!! I was one of the lucky ones to score some Hannah Montana tickets for the girls as a surprise Christmas gift.

These tickets are next to impossible to get, so the girls are very excited about going. I don't think I ever typed my credit card number so fast in my life!!!!! I made this little poster to give to them Christmas morning because I wasn't sure the tickets would be in my hands by Christmas but they did make it. McKenzie is a HUGE Hannah/Miley fan, so it should be a good time. I think Taylor is probably more excited to see the Jonas brothers!

Some random scrapbooking thoughts I have......

As many of you know, I am addicted to message boards, specifically scrapbooking message boards. I love to read what everything is doing, thinking and scrapping about. You always get the scoop on the hot items, where the sales are and so on. There are a few things that always seem to come up on message boards and here are my thoughts on them.......

Hoarding supplies
Most people think that I have a ton of stuff, and while I do have my fair share of paper and supplies, I don't think I have nearly what others have. I think we all have hoarding issues to some extent, but honestly, if I could use up everything that I have bought thus far, I would be one happy scrapper. What is the point of buying all the pretties and keeping them stashed away in your XXL, when you can use them in your book and have everyone oooooh and aaaaaah over them? I get so happy when I use a whole sheet of stickers up and I can throw away the packaging. It actually feels like I have succeeded in my investment, even if it is a $3 sheet of stickers. The biggest argument I hear from those hoarding their supplies is that they are waiting for the perfect pictures to use certain things on. Well, that's all good but by the time, you get those pictures, I am sure that there will be something new that you will want to use instead of that "old" paper that has been sitting in your bag for all of 2 months. Use those supplies!!!!! If you use the things you buy, you won't feel so guilty when you find new things that you want. The whole point of buying all the great supplies out there is for using them in your books. I can't think of any better way than to display them. New products are introduced so frequently in scrapping that a lot of these items go "out of style" rather quickly and then what do you do with them?

Magazines
Throw them or keep them? Personally, I don't want stacks of old magazines piling up in my house, so I toss them. If there is anything in them that I would like to keep for whatever reason, I tear that page out, stick it in a binder and throw the rest away. At some point all of those magazines will be out of style, so why keep the clutter? I do not do this with my idea books, however. Those I keep in tact. I do clean them out every now and then to see if they still interest me and if they don't, I usually try to sell them or give them away. I love getting my magazines every month, but I just can't fathom keeping them all. This way, I get to keep those things that inspire me and toss the garbage that I have no use for. Any sketches I see in any magazine, automatically gets cut out and added to my sketch binder (one of my top favorite scrapping supplies that I have)

Style
My style is usually pretty simple with clean lines, but from time to time, I like to try something different and change things up a bit. Whether it be a new technique or a new product, try something different on your pages. I do both one and two page layouts, I do layouts with one picture and some might have 10 pictures. I don't let the "I only do this many pages with this many pictures" get to me. I do what I feel like doing at that time and I really let my pictures determine how my layout is going be. Scrapbooking is my hobby and I don't want to stress about the number of pages, pictures, etc. This is supposed to be fun, not stressful. Let loose and try something new. I have no rules when it comes to scrapping and I like to keep it that way.

Another gift tag

I had to create another gift tag for a Christmas present and I thought I would post it since I have posted anything else today. Things are starting to get busy around here. I packed up all of my scrapping stuff earlier today since I won't have time to do much until after the holidays. My brother and his family came in last night and tonight I am babysitting for my other sister-in-law while her and her husband go out to eat for her birthday. Seems like there is something going on for the next several days. I hope everyone has a happy holiday season.



Products used: Cricut Christmas cheer cartridge, Bazzill cardstock, Stickles, American Crafts ribbon, Making Memories eyelet and Doodlebug paper

Friends

I did this book for one of Taylor's friends as a little gift. I used nothing but scraps and other stuff that I had on hand. I plan on decorating the cover as well, I just haven't found anything in my stash that will give it that oomph that I want. I cut the book using my Wishblade and just punched holes and used rings to bind it. I learned the hard way that if you want to use the Bind-It-All machine, to punch the hole and bind it BEFORE you put lots of lumpy stuff on the pages. Paper and stickers are just fine, but I had way to much going on for it to fit in to the machine correctly.

Just a couple of quick layouts

nothing special, just wanted to get something posted today. These are some very simple layouts that I did the last week or so.

Bazzill cardstock, KI Memories paper, Prima flowers, bling and stickles. The title I cut with my Wishblade, but can't remember which font I used.

Bazzill cardstock, cut the big tree using Christmas Cheer cartridge, Queen and Company felt fusion, Doodlebug sugarcoated brads, Stickles and some cheap confetti pieces, sequins from Hobby Lobby.

Bazzill cardstock, 3 Bugs in a Rug papers, Doodlebug sugarcoated chipboard

awwwww, how can you resist this?

We added a new little puppy to our family yesterday. He won't stay little for long, however!! He is a 6 weeks old Weimaraner and is just the cutest little thing ever. My Yorkie isn't too sure what is going on, so we are making sure to give her some extra lovin' too. The new puppy's name is Deuce (after Deuce McAllister) and already has his New Orleans Saints collar. I think it was meant to be since the Saints won yesterday!!!!

Santa Tag

So, we never know what to get for my mom and mother-in-law. This year, we are opting for cash so they can go and buy whatever it is they want. For my mom, that will probably be frou frou Christmas stuff for next year. Instead of giving them a card with the money, I have these little clear chinese take out containers that I bought with tons of ribbons in them from my LSS. I put some shredded paper and hid the money in it and tied it with this tag to it.




Products used: Cricut Christmas Cheer cartridge, pattern paper (not sure what company, I have had this for a long time), Bazzill cardstock, Stickles, Deluxe Designs tag template, Making Memories eyelet and American Crafts ribbon.

It's about that time........

that I start packing up my scrapbook stuff and get my house all ready for the holidays. My scrapping area is in my living room and with Christmas a little more than a week away, I need to get my mess picked up until after the holidays are over with. I have a few more layouts that I want to crank out before I have to pick up, so hopefully I will have something to show you next week. Here is one that I did yesterday of Taylor. She is growing up so fast.


Products used: Bazzill cardstock, Urban Lily paper that I cut out using my Exacto Knife, Prima and Making memories flowers, Making Memories snaps and Technique Tuesday stamps.

I *heart* Chocolate

Here is a quick and easy layout that I did yesterday. It is a little on the simple side and I might add something to it, but not sure what that might be yet. If anyone knows McKenzie, they know that she loves ANYTHING chocolate. When she saw this sweatshirt at Dillard's, she had to have it (at least it was cheap!!!). Products used: Fancy Pants felt shapes, Making Memories chipboard heart and paint, American Crafts letter stickers, Basic Grey rubon, Stickles, Fancy Pants stamps, and Bo Bunny paper

A few of my favorite scrapping supplies.....

Here are a few of the things that I love to use when I scrapbook....




My Wishblade, I love it. I bought it when it first came out and spent waaaaaaaay more than they sell for now, but still, I have no regrets. I can do so much with it and I am continuing to learn how to do even more every day. LOVE IT!









My brand new Cricut Expression. I just got this a couple of weeks ago and I love it as well. I know most people are thinking, if you have the Wishblade, why do you need both??? Well, my kids can use the Cricut for school projects and Taylor has already. Also, the ease of it with the cartridges is a nice change of pace from time to time. I am already addicted to buying cartridges, especially the Disney ones since I will be using the lots in the near future.






Bling! I want to use it on any and every page. Having two daughters to scrap makes me want to do everything girly and bling is very girly. I love all brands and shapes and sizes.












chipboard, I mean, c'mon. You can do so much with it. Cover it with paper, ink it, paint it, leave it naked, sand it, glitter it, use Glimmer Mist for a subtle shimmer, etc. The possabilities are endless! I just can't get enough of it.










glitter and stickles........again, I like anything girly and to me, nothing says girly like glittery anything. Both of my girls are in dancing so I use lots of glitter and stickles on those dancing layouts. Glitter, I will admit is a bit messy, but I still like it. Stickles are AWESOME!!!! I have every color and I use them every time I scrap. I love how they add just a little something to whatever you put them on.






Stamps, especially those Fancy Pants stamps. Wow are they beautiful!!! I am just getting into stamping and loving it. I have never been a stamper, but since the clear acrylics have come out, they are pretty much fool proof, which, sometimes, I still manage to goof up, but that's neither here nor there. The best thing to use for stamping is the Fiskars Stamp and Press tool, if you don't have one and love to stamp, you should RUN to get one, it is awesome.







Flowers! Need I say it again? Girly pretty much says it all. Flowers are such a versatile embellishment. They can go on pretty much any page to dress it up. This picture doesn't even come close to the amount of flowers I do have, but you get the drift.










Ribbon. Who doesn't love ribbon. Now, I know this picture is kind of funny looking. This is my solution to ribbon storage. I bought a 3 inch ring in the knitting part of Hobby Lobby and some little ziplock bags. I keep each ribbon (or a few different ribbons) in each bag, punch a hole in the corner of the bag and put it on the ring. I grab it and it is pretty much a ball of ribbon. You can see everything you have at a glance and it travels nicely too. Just throw it in your bag, doesn't take a lot of room.

You look FABULOUS

I completed this layout yesterday of Taylor wearing one of her favorite outfits. I didn't have a red flower, so I took one of the Heidi Swapp flowers that was orange and painted it red with acrylic paint. I then highlighted the petals with white paint, just to give it a little more ooomph. To print in white, I opened a new document in Photoshop and filled the background of the document with black. I changed my font color to white, typed what I needed and then printed it. You can do this with any color and white to get that white print that printers can't do. Products used: KI Memories paper and stickers, Heidi Swapp flower and bling, Me and My Big Ideas bling, Doodlebug bling, Fancy Pants Chipboard, Making Memories paint

Bewitching

I just finished up Halloween from 2006 and this is McKenzie in her cute little witch costume. I think this is the cheapest costume I ever bought. I happen to be at Toys R Us the day before Halloween when they were marking down the prices of all of the Halloween stuff. I got this costume for $2. YAY! The bad thing is that I had already bought a costume that didn't get used. Oh well. She looked way cuter in this anyway. Products used: DCWV glitter paper, Doodlebug sugarcoated letters, Buzz and Bloom chipboard letters and arrow (covered in glitter), Sandylion bats, and KI Memories paper (pink)

Designer's Eye 6

I can't take the credit for the design of this layout. I did this in Connie's Designer's Eye 6 class. We had several different layouts to choose from and this is what I decided to do. I really like how this layout came out. I used Basic Grey paper, Fancy Pants chipboard swirl and stamps, Prima flowers, Doodlebug bling, Creative Imagintions rubons and the title is a Daisy D's rubon. (Click on the layout to enlarge it for a closer look.)

Here's a book I did with some spring pictures I took of the girls. I bought these dresses for them to wear for Easter and a couple of days before, it turned really cold. They didn't get to wear them for Easter, but I was able to bribe them to put them on so I could take pictures of them wearing them.

This book was made using a premade "peek-a-boo" book. I can't remember who makes the book, but each page has a slide out tab. On the tabs, I have more pictures and I used lots of sisters quotes. Papers are all Heidi Grace.

Eight (Heidi Swapp playing card contest)

I did this card for a contest at the Mega Crop in October that was held at the Hilton here in Lafayette. I love these playing cards! You can do so many different things with them. You had to pull a card out of the deck that was face down so you had no idea what you were pulling. I pulled the 8 of hearts. It worked out perfectly since McKenzie turned 8 this year and I had just picked up my pictures from her birthday party. On this card I used a varity of ribbons (8 to be exact), Prima flowers, Heidi Swapp bling, Stickles, American Crafts stickers (again, I love this font!) and stickers from 7Gypsies.

I Believe in Santa (2006)

I am about a year behind on all of my scrapping, so here is a quick and simple layout from last Christmas. I love that the girls still look forward to writing their lists for Santa, even though the list keeps getting longer (and more expensive). Everything I used on this page came from my stash (which is a good thing). Bazzill cardstock, Heidi Swapp flower, Rusty Pickle chipboard swirl, Doodlebug flower, 7Gypsies sticker, Making memories white eyelets and some other little flowers that I have no idea where I got them.

Disney Autograph books

So, the girls and I are going to Disney in January. We went a couple of years ago and can't wait to get go back. Lee won't be coming with us this time, he had enough the first time I guess. Here are the autograph books that I made for the girls to take. Last time I did their books, it was all Mickey Mouse with the red, black and white. This time, they wanted something a little more "girly". I bought the books at Michael's a couple of months ago in the clearance section. I used some scraps I had and cut the big Mickey heads using the Cricut Mickey Font cartridge. Tinkerbell's are Sandylion stickers. The letter stickers are from American Crafts. I just love this cute little font. You can download the TTF font at http://www.geocities.com/freescrapbookfonts1/, it is called Honey Bunches. I also used lots of Stickles to give it a little sparkle. And don't forget the ribbon. I used lots of different types of ribbons and just ties knots on the wire.

Planner from Monica's class

Here is the planner that I made in Monica's Mom's planner class. I plan on giving it to Taylor for Christmas. She starting assisting some classes for dancing and this will work great for her notes and other fun stuff. I had a blast doing this book! You can make one of these in any theme for anyone for the perfect gift!