Eclipse VIP night & IMAX opening day

So, in case you hadn't heard, Eclipse, the third installment in the Twilight Saga movies based on the books by Stephanie Meyer debuted last night. To 7 million people. Yes, it broke some sort of record. And, I was a part of it last night and today. Thanks to having a very lucky friend who won VIP passes to an early special premiere, I was able to watch New Moon at 6:00pm on the big screen and then Eclipse at 9:00pm. I cannot tell you how excited I was. Maybe this photo will give you an idea.

Yes, I went full Wolf Pack. Well, I guess full would have to been to wear a furry suit, but I was close. One of my besties was a vampire for the evening, sporting her incredible red eyes and awesome Volturi

costume. 

Hottie, isn't she? We had to show off our chosen sides and we went to all lengths. ;P

Gold eyes, my friends, gold eyes. It was so awesome to dress up and watch this with my friends and all the fans who were so excited they couldn't contain their squeals, screams, and gasps. I know that their fanaticism isn't for some, but to me, it is all part of the experience. So were these guys.

And, no my hands were not THERE. Then today, we headed over to the IMAX theater in our "regular" street clothes to see it again on the massive screen.

I love this movie! It is the best of the three and I KNOW I will be seeing it again in the theater at least once more. And, I will be eagerly awaiting it's release on DVD. What a great 24 hours!!!

Back to creating tomorrow. Tonight, it is time to reflect on the six hours of yummy movie- goodness that I have greedily consumed. With my focus on one hot wolf.

One productive night!

Finally, I was able and willing to create last night. Not sure what is up with these dry spells, but they are not making me happy. Anywhoo, I made two cards, two layouts, and a tag. The cards and layouts were for challenges on the Scrap-Friendzy link and I was about 2 weeks behind, but the point was that I did them and they were fun.

First are the cards. Everyone needs birthday cards on hand so I whipped up these two. The challenge was to use your scraps, no new sheets of paper. Since I have an overflowing box of scraps, this wasn't too hard. I added the Greeting Farm stamps, because, seriously, how can you not love these little people?

Inside the Alice card and the tag I made in case I need to tag a gift. (I really wanted to use this stamp. It cracks me up every time I see it.)

Obviously, whoever I decide to send the Alice/Jasper card to will have to be a fan of Twilight or they won't get it, but that is okay. 

My layout is for the Nature challenge and it had to include a shade of green, two kinds of flowers, and a bird and/or butterfly. I used photos of three of my favorite scrapbook artists that I have been able to meet in person. I also used mostly Sassafras Lass for this layout because I had received the Vintage Yummy kit from Crafty Steals and it was sitting on my desk calling to me. The crochet flower is from an old cardigan I found at the Salvation Army. 

If life gives you "Lemmons,"

you should consider yourself DAMN lucky!!!

That was the stroke of genius that came to me last weekend regarding this picture of our dear friend, Tracy and her lovely mom. As I am sure you can surmise, their last name is Lemmon and she loves anything that refers to lemons, so I built this layout around that and my new Tracy-slogan.

Patterned paper is BG's Nook and Pantry, bling lemons are from their Bling It! line, there is a piece of lime Pink Paislee pleated ribbon overlaid with some Nikki Sivils gingham ribbon and burlap covered buttons, three Nikki Sivils heart tabs above the photo, AC Thickers, MM journal block cut in half, Jenni Bowlin buttons with yellow bling, and some Art Life flowers. The two crochet flowers were cut off of an atrocious cardigan I found at the Salvation Army for $2.00. It yielded a bunch of these flowers, pearls, hot pink buttons, and a pair of crocheted cherries. Plus, I saved someone from possibly ever actually wearing that atrocity in public. Cute embellishments and saving the fashion world? All in a day's work, my friends, all in a day's work. ;-P

Flower clouds and cupcake blossoms

I had a dream. No, seriously, I did, and this is what I dreamt about.

This is my canvas set that I created in honor of my friend Daniela's new artistic endeavor, The Art Life Flower Shop. I wanted a way to showcase as many of her beautiful flowers as possible on one project and this was my brain's answer.

I started with two My Mind's Eye canvases that I found at Michael's and layered what I call a paint wash until I reached the desired look of a rainy sky. To add a little bit of sparkle, I spritzed it with Marshmallow Glimmer Mist. I took a piece of 12x12 paper and sketched my pictures out on each side, then used carbon paper to trace my designs onto the canvas. The base of the clouds, the hills, the little girl, and her dog are all paint, with the exception of her coat which is a piece of scrap fabric, (actually from an old Christmas ornament!!!), and the shiny umbrella and boots it Glossy Accents over yellow paint.

To fill the clouds, I cut the stems off of a bunch of The Art Life Flowers, then swirled Fabri-Tac on my cloud shapes and began filling them in with the flowers. I started with the larger flowers and then worked my way to the small posies to fill in any spaces I didn't like. The rain drops are self adhesive bling strips.

I punched the cupcakes with an EK Success punch and added the little touches of bling or drawing sprinkles with a marker. I highlighted them with different color paint and some Stickle grass. I drew the features and outline of the girl and dog with a fine tipped Sharpie marker. 

Lastly, I ran some fun rainbow ribbon around the outer edges, adhering with the ever useful Fabri-Tac. I loved making this set and while I haven't decided where they will hang permanently, their temporary place over the bed is working out just fine. 

One of the questions I was asked yesterday when I showed this pair off at the LSS was how much did I invest in flowers? The inquirer was under the impression that I had spent A LOT of money to make such a project. That is not the case. While I used about four packages per color and size for this project, The Art Life's flowers are very inexpensive, none of them over $2.00 for a package. How is that for great value? Want to know more about these great blossoms? They were also featured on The Scrap Review, where Paula Gilarde made an adorable project with them that I SO wish I had thought of!

Getting funky!

The layout below must be my funkiest to date. While the end result is pretty and girly, the process wasn't. This is one of those projects I dreamt about and then tried to recreate in reality and I am happy with it. First, I splatter painted the hot pink card stock. Not a new technique, but the first time I have done it. Then I cut the four strip of gray, heat embossed that awesome wood grain stamp on them, and distressed the edges. My final unique touch was the twigs. I soaked them in bleach water just in case of bugs and once dry, covered them in two coats of glitter Modge Podge. The phrase block and the pink phrase chipboard stickers are from the awesome Melody Ross, Homespun Chic, the roses are from The Art Life, and the pink flocked paper for the two mats is scraps of Doodlebug.

This layout was so close to fitting a recipe challenge at Scrap-Friendzy, so I added the last two required ingredients. The journaling spot under the photo and the word rub ons in the grain of the gray strips. I wanted the words to look like they were a part of the grain, either as if someone had carved them or nature was giving us messages.

I also finished a canvas project that I have been working on for two months, but it is an entry for a design team and I have asked them if I can post it prior to the end of the team call. If they say yes, then I will have it to show you too.

Kicking butt and taking names...

First name I took would be Migraine. Despite having a doosey yesterday, I finally surfaced last night and was still able to pull out two layouts and a mini hanging. I seem to be a on a kick of those lately. The first layout is for the Scrap-Friendzy Archery Challenge. The layout had to include three circle elements and an arrow. I used random family shots from the recent gathering in April.

Second is the mini wall hanging. I made one of these a while back, but am submitting it to be published so I can't share it yet. I was so enamored with the original that I had to make a second one, this time focusing on my Grandma as the subject. I used the Melissa Frances vintage postcard book as the base, (I LOVE this book, FYI. So much possibility), Melissa Frances element at the top and some of her and Heidi Swap's chandelier crystals. There is a Melody Ross inspiration card, The Art Life roses and collage words, Tim Holtz memo pin, Making Memories stick pin, Jenni Bowlin buttons, Basic Grey pearls, and vintage daisy jewelry and lace.

I love this. This is totally my style and it was so fun to put together. Most of these items were purchased at The Art Life Shop, in case you want to make your own. Now let's see what TODAY holds for me. Definitely not a headache.

Migraine-1, Lora-0

Ugh. I love starting the day with a headache, especially a migraine. It so doesn't seem fair, you don't even get a fighting chance. My plans for today were to work on the project I started last night and to knock out some fun challenges I am participating in, all while listening to the new Eclipse movie soundtrack. Instead, the Migraine pulled a TKO on me and I have been on the couch with the blinds drawn and no sound for most of the day. I hope that the dinner I just got together will be done in time for actual dinner or we may be going out tonight and having it tomorrow. I really would like to go play in the studio, but right now it is still touch and go.

Luckily, I did get this little project put together last night. It was one of those things where I was moving some embellies around and I happened to toss them next to a different set of embellies and a lightbulb went off in my head, "Hey, I wonder if..." Well, I wondered right. The Webster's Fabric Fancy DOES fit perfectly in a Maya Road Mega Bottle Cap. And if I add a Prima rose, some Art Life roses, a Tim Holtz charm, three random chandelier crystals, some plastic dew drops, peacock feathers, and a thrift store beaded necklace, I WILL get this pretty and unique wall hanging. Ta-Da!

Funny how those things work. I think I may have to make some more of these as gifts. I know Webster's has Christmas Fabric Fancies that might be really cute in a Mega Cap. Oh, the possibilities.

Likes and dislikes

You know what I like? Sunshine, a good cup of coffee, time in my scrap studio, the smell of a new book, creative inspiration from my friends, laughing. Pretty simple pleasures. You know what I don't like? HOA's, ridiculous rules, sneaky stalkers, double standards, one dimensional people. These little irritants are like sand in your bikini bottom. They rub you till you are raw and want to vow never to go to the beach again. And, for the most part, they are unnecessary, that is the biggest irritant of all.

Now for more chipper topics because in all honesty, I feel great this morning, sand or no sand. I spent SIX hours in the studio last night and I created for me. You know those moments where you just go and let yourself out on whatever medium in front of you? That feels amazing. I completed one layout and one tag and I need to print journaling for the second layout. After I was done, I realized that I do not stamp as often as I should, because I love it and all the possibilities of it. I also realized that while blue and green are two of my all time favorite colors, I don't focus on them in my art very often.

This layout is one that I had already started sketching in my head when I got the hot air balloon from a RAK I won at For The Love of Art (FTLOA). When I purchased the Prima roses on Saturday, read the weekly challenge at FTLOA and the C-A-M-P-E-R challenge at Scrap-Friendzy, it all fell into place. That is another thing I like, when the idea becomes reality with little to no issue.

This week's challenge at FTLOA is to use paint, glimmer sprays, ink, etc to a project. Here I used Glimmer Mist on the doily punch strips and on the background of the card stock, though it doesn't really show in the photo. Scrap-Friendzy is hosting this awesome event called Camp-Friendzy, which is a scrapping based online "camp" running this summer. There are weekly projects, badges to earn, games to play, etc. One of the first challenges was to create a project using the recipe below.

C- Card stock (I used Co'redinations for the base and cs for the punches and stamped title)

A- Use the word "adore," "admire," "amaze," or "awesome" in the title

M- Use metal on the LO (the bling brads in the center of the hydrangeas and under the title)

P- Use a punch or punches on the page (LOVE that MS doily border punch!)

E- Emboss an element of the page ("adored" in title)

R- Use ribbon (anchored the photo)

Head over and check out both Scrap-Friendzy and FTLOA. Both are wonderful communities full of very talented and inspiring people. 

The photo is of my grandmother and her father. I never knew him, he died shortly before I was born, but I know my grandmother thought he was one of the greatest people to ever be on this Earth and that speaks volumes to me. She called him "daddy" her whole life and while that usually kind of creeps me out, when she said it, I wasn't. There was a different reverence in her voice. I wish I had been able to know him.

This second little project is a tag. I wanted to try out the new Chalkboard Glimmer Mist I got on Saturday, so I made this little guy.

 

I pulled out some Crafty Secrets stamps that I have never used and when I looked at the finished product, I wondered why I don't stamp more. I love them and all that you can do with them, but I just don't reach for them very often. I am going to make a point of changing that. The blue section of the tag is the Chalkboard Glimmer, but I think I made a mistake of wiping it before I allowed it to chalk up. Still, I love this little guy and will have to add it to a LO in the future. 

HAPPY NSBD!!!

Yay!!! A day devoted to this wonderful creative quest. I agree with Gretchen McElveen who says she thinks we should get gifts for this day. Maybe I can do that with my dear husband. Today is also National Comic Book Day, so if I buy him a comic, maybe I can convince him to buy my scrappy purchase? {I think I would come out with the better deal there.}

So in honor of this wonderful holiday, I am getting a trip to my favorite scrapbook store, Scrapbook Territory, in Berkeley and then coming home to work on some more Cricut projects. I wanted to share with you a layout that I made recently. I love the Melody Ross collections from GCD Studios and this particular piece of paper was so pretty in itself that I didn't need to add too many embellies. I did add some Dear Lizzy crochet flower, an AC badge, a Wise Words sticker from GCD, and my all time favorite embellishment right now, some Art Life flowers. The alphas/numbers are from AC as well.

Oh, there is a butterfly and phrase piece from K & Company. I think it is important to take "snapshots" of where we are or what we love at this moment in life. It is fun to look back at these type of layouts and recall what things we had to have. My top six right now are home decorations with birds on them, costume jewelry and the new open way I have to display my collection, all the new books I have acquired regarding cooking and art, the clothing trend that is so feminine and pretty right now, and my running sneaks and iPod. 

Have a fabulous day and I hope you find time to create!

Bling and roses

Can't go wrong with bling and roses, now can you? I made this card the other night. I have a number of thank you cards needed for gifts and hospitality received during my recent string of travels and I finally started on them with this one. I used a piece of DCWV Ciao Bella paper, which was so lovely in it's own right, some ZVA bling, a Making Memories bling frame, a sticker from the Dollar Store, and a Michael's stamp. I glimmer misted the little background paper for the sentiment and heat embossed the image. All in all, simple, yet still gorgeous, if I do say so myself. 

Remember that tomorrow is National Scrapbook Day, so set aside time for yourself to honor this beautiful creative road we are all on.

Dippin' Dot Digitals on a rainy Wednesday

I cannot believe I woke up to rain!!! Despite the gray outside, Paper Popsicles Ice Cream Week keeps me looking forward to the sooner rather than later days of warm sun and cool treats. It is Dippin' Dot Digitals today and Tricia just posted an adorable project using a BRAND NEW shaped template. I simply must have this one for myself, check it out and I am sure you will agree.

I decided to use this uber cute sundae image for a layout this week. My sis works at Baskins Robbins so it was the perfect embellishment for a layout about her job.

How cool must it be to work in an ice cream shop? I personally think it would be dangerous to the waistline, but Sister has kept her girlish figure quite well. 

Head over to Paper Popsicles and check out the other wonderful designs for the DT and don't forget to grab the Freebie and play along with our challenge this week!

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!