A bunch of things going on.

My sister arrived on Thursday afternoon and I am so excited that she is here. I love having members of my family close. On Friday, I went to the local Scrapbook Expo and after a really bad start to the day, I enjoyed myself. Between classes, I walked the Expo floor and stopped at the Melissa Frances booth. Her stuff is really great, vintage, girly, without being overly cutesy. The booth was offering a make and take, so I figured why not? I told the teacher of the make and take how much my bff, Daniela, loved the Melissa Frances stuff, how she uses it a lot in her projects, blah, blah, blah, only to realize I was ACTUALLY TALKING TO MELISSA FRANCES. Yep, she was teaching the make and take and here I was jabbering away about how awesome she is. So, in honor of Daniela, I took a picture with Melissa, wearing The Art Life shirt. A little cross publicity, right?

For those of you non-Twi-hards that read this blog, bear with me for a minute. Last night at midnight the New Moon DVD was released to the eager public. I was, of course, part of that public. My sis and I went to the "party" at the local Borders, where we played some games and waited with the other obsessed. So, now I am the proud owner of the New Moon DVD. Haven't watched it yet, but it is still nice to know it is in the house. My sister and I represented Team Jacob, loud and proud.

Last, but most certainly not least, Paper Popsicles and Cheeky Radish have a bunch of fun things going on. First, you simply MUST check out what fellow DT Member, Callie, did with the marshmallow bunny shaped card template. It is SO sweet, it almost gives me a toothache. I LOVE it. Also, when the Cheeky Radish group at SNR Card Universe hits 100 members there will be a FREE exclusive digi image AND shaped template. These are so exclusive, even the DT hasn't seen them yet. So, please become a member so we can all get this free goodness. Being a member of SNR Card Universe is great as well, because of the weekly challenges and inspiration you will find there, especially in the very talented Cheeky Radish group. And don't forget that there is still the weekly Easter theme this week and the monthly RAK is still up for grabs. The more you play, the more chances to win!

You may notice a new blinkie

That's right. I am a designer for Cheeky Radish and Paper Popsicles!!! I am very excited at this chance to work with these fabulous ladies again. Their digital stamps and shaped cards are so much fun to work with, plus you can size to whatever fits your design needs AND they take up no storage space in the scraproom!!! How can you not love that? So, just quick before I scamper back into the Squirrel Hole, if you haven't already, head over to Paper Popsicles and check out what is going on. There is still a chance to enter for this great blog candy!

Also, there is a great prize full of Sassafras Lass for the month of March. The more you play in the challenges during the month, the more times you will be entered to win the March prize.

Ten things that make me happy

Uh-oh, two posts in one day, look out.

Susan of Susan's Little Scraps, who I swear is related to me in at least some obscure way because she totally has my sense of humor and shares my love of kitch, passed this award onto me. Again, I normally avoid these things, but how wonderful is it to take a moment and say at least 10 things that make you happy? And, I would do just about anything for that girl, so here goes...

10. A glass of good wine.

9. The smell of grunge paper, leather, coconut, fresh coffee, freshly cut wood, and the desert after a summer rain.

8. Good hair days that coincide with good skin days that coincide with good outfit days.

7. Traveling.

6. Blankets. One can never have too many blankets.

5. Vintage items, especially quilts, fabulous dresses, shoes, purses, hats, and glamorous furniture.

4. Costume jewelry.

3. The ocean. In the summer, I love the warmth from the sand and the sun on the waves, in the winter I love the turbulence and the grays. I would live near the ocean if it was only my choice.

2. The true ring of a child's laughter.

1. A hot shower or bath.

I decided to keep this purely on the top level and purposefully left out all those fabulous loved ones who are in my world. I will pass this onto some of you, but will contact you on the DL in case you don't want to play along. ;P

*Edited because in a completely typical, but still utterly bonehead moment, I forgot to put in the link to Susan's awesome blog. Please forgive me, Susan!?!?*

Love when something works!!

So I had this vision the other night while I should have been sleeping. Shrinky-dink Twilight characters using the Greeting Farm stamps! So, last night I was up until 2am trying desperately to find my unopened package of Shriny-dink paper. To no avail. But this morning, I got up and went to the craft store, bought some Shrinky-dink paper, and an hour an a half later, TA-DA!!!

Now these are the prototypes.  I need to work on the coloring, but I am so excited at how cute they are!!! Here is what I have done with them and I plan to wear them proudly tonight to the crop.

Even better is that you can put this paper into your printer, so that means I can print out the dressy versions of the Cullens via the Greeting Farms digital images!

A quick project, then back to work

As I mentioned yesterday, what I am working on right now isn't stuff I can really share. (Thank you, Mara, for your sweet and encouraging words. It means a lot, especially coming from someone as talented as yourself.) Last night, I did make this super cute project my friend Daniela gave me. She actually did this as a Make and Take at a local scrap store. Can you believe how cute this is? I must ask her where these papers came from. Anyways, I couldn't resist this photo of my niece. With blue eyes and a gummy grin like that, I am putty for this kid. I love my brother, but am so glad Cady-Bird inherited her mommy's beautiful blue peepers!

This now hangs above my scrap desk for inspiration. It is had to tell in this photo, but the red ribbon actually says "love" in pretty script. I even had left overs from this to add to other projects. That is one of the many reasons I love Daniela and her Art Life projects. She includes so much fabulous product that even an embellie heavy nut such as myself always has left overs.

Okay, back to the scrap room I go!

Look what is blooming!

I am on a total flower kick right now. Last night wasn't as productive as the night before, though I did get some more reading about Dewey the Library Cat done, but I revisited the flower making. First was more of the organza type, only this time in rust and champagne tones.

I really love these, have I mentioned that? I need more practice, there is actually a fine art to the melting process. I also need to find more old necklaces with beads that are strung. I went to some estate/garage sales this morning in hopes of finding some, but another girl got to those goodie bags before me and bought all of them. :(

My second set of flowers are torn paper flowers. I like how grungy they are and are completely different from the organza blooms. I pulled out some scraps and went to town.

I have some more flower ideas that I would like to try. Maybe tonight. Then again, maybe not. We shall see.

A magical night

It is rare that I find the time/mental capacity to create more than one thing in a evening. So five things is unheard of. It was one of those times where I literally couldn't stop and the projects ran a gamut of ideas. So here they are, starting with the layout that I created based on one of this week's sketches at Memory Makers.

Next is the two cards I made after completing the layout, one using scraps from this layout. The first one is a thank you card, the second is one for my BFF of all time, also using scraps from a previous layout.

Next is a project I have been really wanting to try, organza flowers. I am in love with the girly trend going on right now and I will be holding onto it long after it isn't trendy any more. This is the second flower I made and I must say, I am surprised at how well it turned out.

And last but certainly not least, I just HAD to pull out my new Melody Ross stuff I got yesterday. Being that it was well after midnight when I did this, I promised myself that I would just look through it. Famous last words. An hour later, I had most of this mini canvas completed and the only reason I stopped was because I had covered it in Glossy Accents and had to let it dry. 

SO cute!! Love her new Artsy Urban and Homespun Chic collections. I had just picked this mini canvas and easel up yesterday when I went to buy organza and am now considering going back and buying all the store had to make a bunch of these for gifts. This is what I was thinking about long after I laid down to go to sleep. It is like my mind was making up for lost time.  

Two new layouts and a little contest

**Okay, so we have a winner. You are all quick. Melissa, I have your addy. Thanks for noticing that I added the Tim Holtz "Destiny" metal tag under the photo. Thanks to everyone for playing!**

I made two new layouts today, one from a sketch and a lift. The first one is for the sketch of the week for the Memory Makers Forum. The talented Alanna shared her first sketch and it inspired this:

I am actually pleasantly surprised by how much I like the end result because when I started, I have to admit, I wasn't feeling it. Then bit by bit, it came together. Yes, those are my siblings, hence the title.

Second layout of the day is a lift from Amy Parker who was published with a very cute layout in this month's Scrapbook Trends. It features a photo of my nephew Alex that I have been wanting to scrap since I saw it. I kept it in my stash of photos to scrap, but each time I pulled it out, it wasn't right. Until today.

The funniest thing is that I showed this to dear Hubby and he said, "It actually turned out good." Actually? ACTUALLY!?!?! As in you are surprised that it is good? As in compared to all that other crap you have created so far, I had little faith in your abilities, but this layout is actually good? I realize that isn't what he meant and that maybe I am a bit moody because I haven't eaten since this morning. Just maybe.


Okay and last but not least, the contest. I am re-posting my "Home Girls" layout from yesterday. One because it is a better picture in regards to color and two, I made a small change to the layout. It is obvious and the first person to leave me a comment naming what it is that is different, I will send a little RAK to.

I am also leaving the original version up, so this is a lot like those matching games we used to play in our color books.

Sayonara dry spell!

I made a layout!!! Yay!! I won't even tell you how long it took me to make this, all that matters is that I did it. I used this month's My Mind's Eye sketch and color challenge, pink and red. As soon as I pulled the papers and then the picture, I saw this come together. It was the title I struggled with. First it said "GALS" in magenta glitter letters. Then I put it back to this safari print, "Girls" but it looked like it was missing something, so I dug out this little container which holds the remains of two very different alphas, one pink plastic and one bronze metal. I tried a ton of different words like "best"- missing the s & t, "great"- still missing the t, 'xoxo"- didn't fit right until finally I stumbled across "home." I figure I had my word search lesson for the day plus made a great layout. "Home Girls" works because these two girlies are ones who you know would travel across the country for you, would make you chicken noodle soup at 2:00 am if you were hungry, who for some reason love you even though you are crazy. Heck, maybe that is why they love you. And that, to me, is a home girl.

Edited to Note-- I just realized that this challenge for MME was due yesterday. Oops! Oh well, I still got a great LO!

Creating of a different sort

Okay, so I am happy to say that my fingers are stained from Glimmer Mist and I was in playing with the super cool canvas sheets to my Donna Downey mini album. But that isn't what I am sharing with you tonight. Instead, I am sharing with you a pizza, all homemade, from the recipe in The Pioneer Woman cookbook. If you haven't checked out her website, The Pioneer Woman, you really should. She is awesome! Her recipe for potato and leek pizza caught my eye as something different and here it is!

The hubby seemed to enjoy it, so that is a good thing. I am do not like pizza in general and I have to say this was quite tasty. Unfortunately, we have a pizza stone that was in the oven and smoked up the house really bad, giving me burning eyes and a slight headache, so I think as soon as I post this, I am heading to the shower and beddy bye so I can be fresh for creating tomorrow!

And a recap of my favorite new line at CHA

is of course the fabulous Elizabeth Kartchner! Here are some more photos of her beautiful section of the American Crafts booth.

I will hopefully be back tomorrow with something new, something I have created, maybe something Valentine's-ish?

To know me is to realize I'm a dork

Seriously, I have little to no shame, people. I am honestly the biggest goober on the planet and I am not afraid to make a complete a$$ out of myself if I think it will make someone laugh. Now, I am not talking Johnny Knoxville/ Bam Margera level jacka$$ here, just honest, plain goofy. Here are some candid shots from CHA to prove it.

1500 business cards, magnets, and postcards, plus one birthday later

LOVE this woman for so many reasons. (Mainly in this photo, for having listened to me blabber till the wee hours of the morning)

Don't you know, I smell ALL of my products before using them!?!

Nancie and her fondant and me and my double chin. (Seriously?!?!)

This is normal for me.

Disney could hire me and they wouldn't even need to add make up. Is this my best angle? (Least the double chin is missing.)

Attractive, no? (No comments about the teenager acting skin issues, please).

This is why I was laughing. Ever had a man put a balloon alien onto your arm? No? Well, it is pretty amusing, let me tell you. 

Okay, so tomorrow I will post my final CHA post, featuring more from the Dear Lizzy portion of the American Crafts booth. Yes, more of her and her fabulous items. I told you, I love her.

A long dry spell

I have been in a funk lately, so my apologies. It usually happens around this time of year for me. Here are some more pictures from CHA, though I am sure you will have seen a lot of these or ones similar floating around.

New canvas album from Maya Road. Isn't it so inspiring for Valentine's Day?

Another canvas album from Maya Road.

Graphic 45's new Boardwalk line.

A cupcake made with the new Cricut fondant frosting machine.

And these last four are inspiring projects featured at the Tattered Angels booth.

A new person to adore

I was able to take one of Donna Downey's classes while at CHA, as well as talk with her at her booth for a bit and let me tell you, she is so incredibly REAL. Her talent knows no boundaries, but I was amazed by how funny and down to Earth she was. As you probably know Donna creates for Prima and she announced that her Prima products will be featured in turquoise packaging, so it will be easier to find her great creations.  The other medium that Donna is incredibly talented in is fabric. Her fabric projects are just awesome. Even the skirt she is wearing in the photo is one she made. Super cute!!

She is such a doll!

Pieces of her class, can't wait to finish this album.

Fabulous goodies in her booth. The heart canvas is actually covered with tags and then painted!

See the spool in the right corner? Wait till you see it unfold in the last picture!!

If I had an apron this cute, I would wear it everyday.

This album was all fabric and super cool!!

I REALLY want to make one of these spool fabric albums.