CS Aug 2006 Retreat

Just back from the CS 2006 Aug Retreat. What fun that was! Met some terrific ladies and had alot of fun. Here is a pic of Lynn, me and Julianne as pirates. What in the world would possess grown women to dress up as pirates? Perhaps that is one of the powers of CS??? These two cool chicks were on my floor as well and great fun. I met Julianne last year, and she is a doll.
We made many great projects during the retreat. Can't talk about it now because we pinky swear not to until the other two retreats are over (Sep and Oct). It's hard, but our gift was so great and definitely needed. And our kit...oh la la. Ain't saying nuthin' else. We even made one thing that I have never done before which I have proudly been showing off. So how is that for vague?
Some of my crew were: Lynn and her sis, Mary, Anastasia (whose name is just way too long LOL), Julianne, Kim, Jill, Pat & Woody, Nancy, Laura, Angie, and Jen, and my roomie, Mandy. If I forgot to name anyone, it is just a momentary lapse and I apologize.

A new Halloween Layout

I think I was in a small slump over the summer. Last Friday I went to a crop at my lss. That is always a good way to get over a hump. Although, I thought I had lost my creativity and talent with a couple of the lo's I did. They just needed some doctoring up when I got home so I fixed them right up on Saturday with all my goodies in my scrap room. To quote my husband, "you sure have alot of stuff!" OMG, he has no idea. I told him it really was nothing compared to some of the sb rooms I have seen!

I had to scrap today, too. These were some photos I had printed out over the summer from film I shot last year. Sound typical! I blew one up because I really liked the colors. To get this to post, the colors are kind of washed out. I do apologize for that. It loses a little from that. I turned to my trusty color wheel to select colors to accent the orange in the pumpkins and really bring out the Halloween!

I just had to use my newest stamps that I got 1/2 price from Hobby Lobby earlier this summer. It's such a fun font. The card stock is CS, and the light patterned paper and tags are from Daisy D's Attic Collection, which I just adore. My brad is a dark copper, which brings out the paisly outline in that paper. I used an orange Brilliance pad to make the pumpkin obnoxious since we do buy the biggest pumpkins we can find for our money.

Now I just have to figure out how to get to a crop with what I really want to use without bringing everything but the kitchen sink. And truly I could bring that, too, cuz I would probably use it!

I'm thinking about bringing my SEI paper to crops. It is color wheel based, and would go great with some photos I have in mind to do.

I'm about to leave for the CS 2006 August Retreat. I can hardly wait. At first I was a little disappointed that Tim Holtz wasn't coming. He is such an artist and so inspiring, but I know that talented crew up there in Wisconsin won't let us down. I'm sure I will have much more to say about that.

Oh, I did finish my dd's cheer album for last year at the crop so that is very constructive and did knock out a few more pages for my Hawaii album. I only have about 100 more photographs to go, but they are mostly scenery. I'm thinking of doing like a postcard collage type lo for the rest of those photos on each page. I think that will work and bring out my pics while still telling my story.

Sponge Bob Hinged Lid Photo Box

My secret pal also received this hinged lid photo box. It was a design from Club Scrap, that I changed the dimensions on to be able to hold 4x6 photos. I made two of these for my sil for Christmas with a rectangle cut out of the lid so you could see the contents inside. They turned out so well, my brother thought I bought them somewhere. I'm not sure this one was that fantastic. I got the fabric and the characters from a swap I was in a while back sponsored by my friend, Dana, a very talented scrapper.
The top, spine and bottom are three pieces of chip board with one piece of fabric holding them together. The inside is made folding a 12x12 piece of paper. I like to cover everything with modge podge so it doesn't get ruined. Isn't it cute? I liked it, but I have a very silly sense of humor.

Altered Book Project for Secret Pal

I have a secret pal for a retreat I am going on this year. It was supposed to be a card swap, but I just am card challenged. I made her some other stuff, including this altered book made from a real book. For those of you who are offended by defacing of books, you better not read on cuz it starts with an exacto knife and gets worse.
I took a hard back book I bought for fifty cents from a local thrift shop. I cut out the pages leaving only the covers and the spine. I then covered the book cover, both inside and out, with paper. I saw this in a book I got from the library about altered art. The spine was reinforced with book binding tape, although you can use tyvek envelopes like you get in the mail. We love to use our scraps, don't we! I sewed in my signatures with waxed linen thread and used beads as a fun accent. I tore the paper for my signatures to give some added texture as I am a very tactile person. I hope my secret pal liked it. I left it really undecorated so that she could alter it to suit her personality. That is something I like to do.

Photographing Things also preserves memories

It's good to remember to photograph the things around you, too, not just people. I'm sure there are items in your house that bring back fond memories when you look at them. I have an antique bedroom set from the early 1900's that was my great-grandparents. They emigrated to America in 1901. It was in my grandparent's guest room my whole life and is where I slept every time I visited them. I remember hot nights in the summer with all the windows open for any breeze that might wander in. The sound of the a/c window unit from my grandparents room hummed through the night as the hall window fan whirred pushing that air towards me. Or so they said. I gotta tell you, it was hot as fire, but I had plenty of "fresh air".
So if I can get all this from a piece of furniture, just imagine the stories you are missing telling the family members you are scrapbooking for if you leave out those treasured items.

I took these photos while on vacation trying to remember to photograph some things for posterity. We went to a local festival at a plantation house built in 1792, which a family had purchased for reunions and were gradually restoring it. And I mean gradually. The fresh field flowers on the crackled mantle with the peeling walls behind the vase just spoke to me. Flip flops on the floor. Left where the wearer dropped them after a day at the beach. The seafood list against a backdrop of evergreen was an anomaly I couldn't pass up, with the morning sun beckoning through the window. A simple candle holder lit by natural morning light that says BEACH as loud as it can.

Remember to photograph those other memories, too, and record your thoughts. These are important to those who come after you. How will they truly know you if they don't know what inspired you or gave you pleasure?

Mini Album in A Box

This is a mini album. Unfortunately the pictures are kind of dark, but that is because the paper is black. The box is a jewelry box...the size for a bracelet. Inside are accordian folded pages with room for small photos or journaling. I made this last summer at the GASC in Arlington, TX.

Hawaiian Scrapbook More Pages

Once I get the last page posted tomorrow, I better get working on some more! Not that I mind. I have alot more time in the summer since I'm only working one day a week right now. I really want to sort through all my sb stuff and sell my embellishments that I am sick of. I'm sure it isn't cost efficient to sell some things in smaller lots, but I have many things I just don't want to look at anymore!
One idea I have is using old stickers for collage on containers that I am making to store some of my stuff. That is a great use for old stuff and since the containers were free, too, it's economical all the way around!

Get those themed albums done!

The thing about scrapbooking is you can squeeze in five minutes here and there and end up with completed pages, cards or projects. Of course these were all done on National Scrapbooking Day. What made them easy to complete and helped me get so many done is that I only took a few paper choices with me and I hade all of my memorabilia together in a large sized ziploc bag. I didnt' use alot of embellishments because I let my memorabilia be the embellishments fot the most part. Yes, I could have been alot fancier and artistic, but what would that have accomplished? Every page doesn't have to hang in the Louvre. Right!!! And now I get great satisfaction looking at my pages in my album at home, remembering the good times that I have been able to record so far.
I've just done too many theme albums not to learn a few lessons. First of all, don't keep those photos for a special occasion. Get them out and scrapbook them now. What are you waiting for? Focus on getting them scrapbooked. I'm not saying quantity over quality. I'm saying put them in albums now while your memories are still fresh and your journaling can include all those things you wanted to remember. If you hold on to those photos for too long, you forget things. If you want to use all your photos, use all your photos. I'm a great believer in scrapping what I have. I hate one picture pages. It doesn't mean I don't do them, I just prefer to tell stories with my albums. Similar pictures can tell stories. I mean, check out the Sunrise over Maui photos. (Frankly, they are much better in real life!!!) Similar photos, but imgages I wanted to save. Scrapbooked simply so as not to detract from the photographs, but duly recorded for posterity!!!
All I can tell you is 3 years after my Bahamas cruise, it is not fun to realize that album is not done. Yes, my CKU album is finished...that was lesson number one for me in the don't wait section. My Mexico cruise album is done. My dd's cheerleading album for 7th grade is done (8th grade is nearly done. I just got the last of the photographs). My Club Scrap 2005 album is done. But the one album that isn't finished is hanging over my head...the Bahamas cruise. I'm finishing that one after my Hawaiin vacation album. Otherwise, who is enjoying them? Certainly not my family yet!!!

Incorporating Memorabilia into your Scrapbook pages

As I have scrapbooked my Maui vacation, I have incorporated alot of memorablia I collected while I was over there. What is a pocket on this first page is actually the envelope the company sent our information in for the trip. I then used it to display our room key, a chocolate candy wrapper we got each night and the brochure his company sent us as well. At the very top is a tag off of something!

If you look through these pages you will see I have used maps, hotel glass coasters (those paper things with your water glasses), and even the label off of a beer bottle that my husbad dutifully pulled off. He is a scrapper's husband, he knows what is important!!!

Starting my Maui Scrapbook

National Scrapbook Day was a great opportunity to start my scrapbook of Maui from which Lou and I had just returned. He won President's Club with his company and that was their reward. So I'm sharing what I got done that day. I'm pretty pleased with it so far. This blogger page will only let me upload so many photos. So we will get a few on here each day...I haven't blogged in a while. I also have a little storeage container I made out of a Wyler's Lemonade container for my brushes to post this week. Who says you have to pay alot of money for scrapbook storeage. There are lots of free resources right in your home!

Watercolor stamping Card

So I was messing around today because I had to make some cards for some friends. I had bought some watercolor paper a while ago at Hobby Lobby and needed to use it.

I have some of those water color crayons. My dear friend, Nancy, sent me them in the mail. I have used them before, but with paint brushes to color in images. I found out you could color on your stamps with them, spray with water and stamp on water color paper. It doesn't work on regular paper because you need the absorbency in the water color paper. I like the fact you can use several colors and run them together.

Natch, I had to use my BG Color Me Silly Paper and coordinating Bazzil. I have used the hound out of that set since I got it. The colors coordinate with my dd's cheer uniform plus they work great with my recent photos from Maui! Those scrapbook pages will be posted here shortly.

I have to post these photos on my blog. I am obsessed with light and photography. I'm fascinated the way light affects objects and the play of light. I just LOVE the way the light is in these photographs. The challenge of shooting outdoors is just great. You can't control the light. I mean you can to some extent by choosing the time of day, but when it is right, it is right.

Lifetime Moments shopping sucks!

I guess I'm not doing so well on posting stuff every day to my web page here. I need to post the other tin I made. My Daisy D's Attic Heirlooms finally came today. I'm excited about that. Can't wait to play with it. Hopefully tonight.
I ordered my original order from Lifetime Moments. No lie: it took two weeks for them to tell me they were (1) mailing my package and (2) my Attic Heirlooms kit was not included. They were out. Now had I known that, I would have canceled the order for the other two sheets of paper. Lucky they didn't charge me shipping. That site is sorry. There is no excuse for that. I will continue to "use" them to see what is out there, but I will not order from them anymore.

My Vintage Rose Can

I have always loved this pattern paper, ever since I got it. I believe it is either AG or K&Co. You think I would know, but then I do have more than a few sheets of paper!!! I decided to use it to decorate this tin that held those rolled cookies with cream inside (no problem emptying the can!!).
I tore the paper and then mod podged it on. I used some CS cut outs from their Chocolate kit on several spots all the way around the can. I also had a sticker that had "LOVE" printed on it, so I cut it in half and put it on the can, too. You can't see it due to the poor quality of my photo. I was on my way out the door to Bunko. This can held my bunko prize. Anyway, the ribbon is glued down with red tacky tape and Martha Stewarts bow tying (SP???) technique was used to get such a nice bow.

My Foam Stamp Tin

I had some fun today finishing a scrapbook page that I had started the other day. I really wasn't happy with it then I saw something that inspired me. It was a lo somewhere and plus, I got some new foam stamps at Hobby Lobby on sale. Once I finished my lo, I realized I had to have a place to store those cool stamps. I cannot put them back in the package they come in, all in order. That would drive me nuts trying to get all those rectangular shapes in there and all lined up. So I altered a Cascade tin. It's terrific. My stamps fit in there perfectly. Best of all, I used scraps!!

The Card Bag

My husband's birthday was yesterday. I made this bag to put his cards in with his presents when I was setting the table. The idea for the bag came from a recent issue of Paper Crafts Magazine, which I love!!! I used an 81/2x11 sheet to make the bag (CS paper). I cut a piece of coordinating paper to decorate the front (AG). The twill is by Creek Bank and you can really use anything you want to make the handle. The sample in my mag had grossgrain ribbon. Then I just grabbed some embellishments and went to town!
When all is said and done, I will flatten this bag and use it with his cards on a scrapbook page about his birthday. Now how is that for killing two birds with one stone!

Birthday Card

I am sharing a birthday card I made recently with you, once again using my Quickie Card method. All papers are Anna Griffin and so is the shoe stamp. Ink is Ranger distress ink. I can't get enough of it. And would you believe I only just got Weathered Wood on Saturday? I still don't have lavender, but I will!!! When I was at the CS Retreat, they were out of the lavendar and they didn't have weathered wood. I didn't even know it existed until I discovered it on another website...

Valentine Cards

My dear friend, Nancy who lives in Florida, showed me a fabulous quickie way to knock out some cards using about 3 sheets of pattern paper and pre-cut cards. I made 8 Valentine cards the other day. This is just a sample. The chocolate cut-outs are from Feb. '05 Club Scrap Chocolate kit. The other paper is Anna Griffin. I'm not sure who made the stamp. One card I used my Ranger Distress Inks to age for something different. Inside they all have "Happy Valentine's Day" stamped in red.
I'm trying to keep up with my goal of posting something every day. I'm doing pretty good!
Yesterday and Saturday I spent a good bit of time organizing my scrap room. Hobby Lobby had a sale on their albums and storage containers so I bought a few and put all my pages away that I had been storing and sorted through some memorabilia and put that away. Very satisfying. It's getting better in there. There is hope for that room!!!
Finally, some dear friends, the Wallaces sent me a photograph of my Dad on the USS DeHaven because that ship is having a reunion and are putting together some stuff. He is second from the back holding the fishing pole!

Layouts done in 2006

All the layouts I'm sharing today were done in 2006. Actually at the recent weekend my two girlfriends and I spent at the beach doing nothing but cropping! These are quickie layouts to get my Mexico vacation album done. They are not fancy, but we went in 2004 and it was time to get them done and in the book. I finished it and my CKU WDW 2003 album that weekend! I'm so relieved! It's just that you get sick of seeing the same photos over and over and no one can enjoy them until they are in a book.
Well, actually the first layout was done in Dec or Nov of '05 with photos from my Club Scrap Retreat in August 05...