just stuff

This is my card for the CP#3 card sketch. These sketches are so fun and the DT just rocks them! There is a special giveaway this week, but instead of posting the info here, I'll just link it so you can take a peek for yourself. ;) (the details are on the Saturday, February 21, 2009 post) Good luck and get creatin'!

As luck would have it, I cannot locate the card on my stinkin' computer, so there will be no image today. I am really frustrated with computers lately... I am just trying to figure this one out. *sigh*

Speaking of rocking... I just breezed my way through 5 songs on Guitar Hero 3 that I have been struggling with. I am on the hard level and it's been kicking my butt, but I am not giving up. My scores weren't all that grand, but I managed to end in the green all 5 songs. I am trying to locate Guitar Hero 2 for the Wii and haven't had any luck, but I did stumble on the coolest one yet, which is coming out next month; it's the Metallica version and it looks way cool! I am going to get this one for sure! I may not be around once that arrives on my doorstep. lol

In other random news, we are adding another teenage girl to our home. Emily will be coming to live with us on Saturday. She has had some major issues as some of you may know, and the time has come for her to be with us. She's actually on board with it and ready to be here, which is a good thing. We know she'll do well with us, but she really needs to want it just as well as we do. SO now we are going to have 4 teenage girls and a 'tween. My poor hubby is even more outnumbered now. The girls are looking forward to her arrival and so are we. There will be some adjustments, but I have no doubt that things will go well.

I hope you are having a great week! Until next time, take care. :)

a membership drive and layouts to share

Good morning! Another Monday, the last of the month. It's rainy and icky here, I wish it were snowing, but I can't be so lucky.

Ally Scraps is having a membership drive:

Come on over to the AllyScraps message board, sign up as a member, then sign in on the Membership Drive forum. That is all you have to do to get started. Just post 50 posts on the message board (a little substance to them would be nice LOL) over the next 4 weeks, and we'll send you a $10 AllyScraps gift certificate as a big HELLO! Now of course we are hoping you like us and want to hang out all the time, but if not, the gift certificate is still yours!
The counting starts now, but you can join any time between now and March 23. So, to sum things up, you will meet a great group of ladies, who will enable you with your addiction, and never make you feel guilty. Be both challanged and inspired. Play games, chat, and maybe make a new friend or two, and we are going to pay you to do it! What are you waiting for? We can't wait to meet you... come on over and have some fun.
PS Dont forget to check out the store, new stuff is starting to come in daily!
Hope to see you there,

Cathy

I have a couple of layouts to share. The 'Crazy Day' page was created last month in a game of layout tag.

(forgive the double image... I am having issues here. lol) You can see how the game started and ended here, the changes in pages are so fun to see. I will be hosting another round soon on Ally Scraps soon so be on the look out.

The other two layouts are my DT entries.

Have a super day!

A little shout out to my SIL who turns 30 today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS!!! I love ya girl! :)

new color sets and some projects

hi! Store More Stamps has 2 new beautiful color sets out, Tropical Getaway and Sweetheart. I personally love these colors! If you are looking for the perfect way to store your stamps, this system is the way to go.

I have a couple of projects to share today. They were both created for challenges on Ally Scraps. The 'Our family' frame was created using the 'House and Home' theme in the Purrfect Projects section. I have has this idea for awhile now, and I finally decided to go for it. Each house represents a member of our family. Its hanging in our living room and the girls really like it. It looks nice in there.

The layout was created using a new challenge feature that I will be hosting each week, it's an inspiRAEtion challenge (how do you like the play on words *giggle). I will be posting a new inspiration piece each Thursday and hopefully it will be a fun way for others to think outside the box or jump-start the creative process. The first challenge I posted was to use an image of a tree with owls sitting on it. I drew my inspiration from the tree, the owls and the colors. I used the DCWV Green Slab to create this along with some Hambly rub ons. I totally adore these papers and I think I need to go buy another slab because I can see myself using these papers a lot. (this layout looks washed out... the blues should look a bit more green-ish. I am going to have to take a new pic.)

Take care!

I made the team!

I am super excited to announce that I made the DT for Ally Scraps! I am so happy!!! If you are looking for a smaller online scrappy community that is full of super fun challenges, no drama and a good old family feel, then come on over to Ally Scraps and jump on in. We would love to have you! If you are looking for great products, with low shipping prices and fast turnaround, this is also the place for you. :) I have always had excellent customer service here and that is something that is really important to me.

I have a layout to share that I made the other day. I have wanted to use these Pink Paislee papers for a long time and I finally tore into them. Again, its the pinks and browns, with the blue and white... these seem to be my colors lately. I even pulled out some Ki lace paper that I have been hoarding.

Take care!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am not a romantic and today is just another day in my mind, but it's fun to remind all my loved ones how much they mean to me. :)

I have some layouts to share today. The first one, 'our little panther', was created using Deb's Jan. 30th sketch over on Ally Scraps.

The second page, 'made with love', is something that I have wanted to scrap about for years now, but never got around to it until now. I dug into my stash and pulled out some older paper that I always thought was pretty. I am not much into scrapping with greens and purples, but I like how it turned out.

The last layout, 'knee deep' is of Meghan. I am not overly thrilled with this page, but I was just trying to get something done and not overthink it.

Have a super day!

CP sketch 1

Here is the first sketch over at the new card sketch blog Card Patterns. You can find sketch # 1 and the cards by the DT here. I hope you will play along with us. If you do, you have a chance to become our guest designer for sketch # 3. Gather your supplies and create a card based on the sketch and leave a link to your card here. We'd love to have you play along! While you are there, you should check out the cards that everyone has linked, they are fabulous!

Here is my take on the sketch. Thanks for peeking. :)

Have a super day!

playing with some stamps

I (as a DT member for Store More Stamps) was sent a stamp set called "Bundle Up" created exclusively for Studio Calico, as well as for sale as a special package deal on the Little Monkeys website. I created a layout and a card with this cute little set.

I am so happy that we got some snow this morning! Not much, but enough to make me dance around and squeal with delight! (and sadly, it's true... I act really giddy when I get excited about the little things. My family thinks I am a little whacked. hahaha)

I applied for a job with the Census yesterday. I took a test and submitted my application and I will know next Thursday if I got the job. I think I did really well on the test, and the higher the score, the better the chance one has for employment. I am confident, but nervous and I hope that I did as well as I thought I did.

Do you have any big weekend plans? We don't, which is OK with me. I would love to just scrap and hang out with my hubby and the girls. I think I am starting to come down with something because I have a fever and a bit of a sore throat, so I want to lie low and rest as much as I can. Whatever you do, have fun! :)

Valentine's day projects

I have my final project to share as a guest designer for Ally Scraps in January. It's a candy holder I made for the Ally Scraps blog. I used a plastic box and just wrapped it in some paper, added some ribbon and a sentiment and a few minutes later I had a cute little package to give to someone sweet. :)
Speaking of Ally Scraps, I am one of the lucky 6 finalists for a DT spot! I am really excited, but nervous because the other girls are extremely talented. We were each sent a small kit to create a layout with and then we will be given a sketch next week to use as a base for another layout. I am currently working on my layout and I think I am going to be OK with it. I wasn't feeling it yesterday, but I didn't scrap at all today and looked at it with fresh eyes and it's turning out OK. I just need to let it be and go with it. Hopefully tomorrow I will adhere it all and add some finishing "me" touches.

The card is for the Feb. 4th Di Hickman sketch. The team came up with some beautiful interpretations of the sketch. Be sure to check them out!

My dh is rocking out to Guitar Hero 3 right now. He's on a roll. He may actually made it to medium level sometime this year at this rate. I think I am going to have to get off of here and show him how it's done. ;) (yeah right... I am on hard level and have only made it past one song. lol)
Take it easy!

Artz de Scrap has a new challenge up! The challenge for February is to alter any file with a love theme. This is my take on it, and you can see the other designers' takes on the blog. You can win a great prize as well as create a little something to put those precious love notes in or whatever else is near and dear to your heart.

My time with Michael's is almost up. Saturday will be my last day. I will miss being around all the crafty things, but I will still shop there so it's not like I won't ever see it again. ;) I will also miss the people, but not the drama which seems to have gotten worse instead of better now that the Holiday's are over. Kara is still going to continue on, but she's young and is more in the mindset of what is going on there. I am getting too old to deal with it, especially voluntarily.

Take care!

some layouts to share

Happy Groundhog's Day! I was surprised to see a bit of snow on the ground this morning and it really made my heart happy. I want more!

Here are two layouts I created last week. I am trying to use some older supplies. I have so many great papers that I really need to use up. I am always amazed at how colors and patterns can invoke different feelings in me and how the end result truly comes from the passion I have for the colors, etc. For instance, I am totally thrilled with the 'snow day play' layout because the colors are colors that I like to work with and normally do not struggle with. I found it easy to create this layout and everything came together quickly. Then there is "a spongebob x-mas'. I struggled with this page. I like the colors well enough, but for me it was a challenge... pretty much anything with green is a challenge for me. I spent hours on this layout moving things around, trying to find just the right balance. I even let it sit overnight to come back to, but nothing new and fresh came from that, so I just added a few little details to give it some interest and left it at that. I do like that they are both so different, it makes me feel successful at mixing it up a bit, if you will.
I feel blessed to be able to create, and lately I have been on a roll and I am happy with everything that I have made. I hope this is a pattern that is going to stick around for awhile. Sometimes I get in a rut and just don't turn out anything that I am overly happy about. I suppose I am my own worst critic, but it's difficult to create when I am not feeling all that great about the end result.

I have a little something fun to share. I am a part of a new card sketch site team called Card Patterns. The team is super talented and I am eager to see what everyone comes up with. Come play along, we'd love to have you! :)

I hope you have a great week!