A Bowl of LUUUUV!

Due to the fun topic at hand today, I thought I would use a lovely font.

Then I thought better of that idea and decided it is best if you can actually READ my post! HA!

So, today is Friday. Friday is a good thing. Friday means that tomorrow is Saturday and I don't have to go to work. That makes me happy. It really and truly does.

Today is also the LAST day that you can enter my giveaway! So, I HIGHLY recommend that you go check THAT out because it pretty much ROCKS! It will close at midnight tonight and I will choose a winner no later than Monday, but possibly earlier, so keep your eyes PEELED like a banana!

I have to tell you, Valentine's Day is not a big one in our house. It never has been, really. Let's face it. Hallmark got us on this one. The decided to toss out a lot of bright and shiny red and pink and fluffy stuff and tell everyone that we should have a day of LUUUUV! (I'm not quite sure how to do the proper pronunciation key for that word, but I'm hoping you are getting the idea...) So, seriously, folks....is this REALLY a necessary holiday? I would put for that it is, indeed, not. Now, that being said....I do love me some cherry gummy hearts and WalMart only has them for Valentine's Day, so I'm not going to start a boycott campaign or anything! My point is more that we don't do silly cards and I CERTAINLY don't expect (or even want) over-priced roses that magically get more "valuable" simply because of the date. I do, however, LOVE the color RED! And, I must admit, I'm a pretty big fan of Pink, too! So, that means that I have a certain color-based appreciation for this time of year. The colors make me happy!!! AND...who doesn't love a good heart now and then?

So, I do create Valentine's cards...which I haven't done quite yet this year, but I will get there! I promise! And I also create some other fun valentinesey type projects, as well. (OMG! "Valentinesey" is actually NOT throwing the spell checker! Sometimes it simply amazes me what passes for a word in the English language! At least the American version! Yikes!....but I digress...)

I made this fun little "LOVE" banner, since it seems that banners and such are all the rage and I didn't feel like being left off that little train.....



Umm...I kinda love it.
I used Chatterbox ArtsyLicious papers to cover the heavy chipboard letters and then I set eyelets (remember those things!) in each letter. The ribbon was the fun part! I didn't want it to look "strung" but I did want the ribbon to be the connecting factor, so I folded the ribbon and pushed a loop through from the back to the front of each eyelet. Then I cut the loop and tied a cute little knot on the front to fasten it. I love the way it looks and I love that I didn't have to have that "over/under" kind of thing going on!



See!!!

Okay....so that's my fun little banner! You should totally make one! It didn't take very long and I LOVE it!!! (Hee-hee....love....yeah, anyway....moving on....)

ALSO, I just knew that I was supposed to go ahead and embrace the creative force of the season when I scooped out a small bowl of ice cream the other night. I used one of my favorite Crate and Barrell bowls that my wonderful little sister gave to us. It's red. I sprinkled it with wonderful Rainbow sprinkles and drizzled a bit of caramel on top and sat down to enjoy my evening snack. Well, after a couple of bites I looked down and I saw it!!! My ice cream had scooped out in a perfect little heart shape!!! How cute is THAT? It made me happy. Really, sometimes it doesn't take much! Anyway, I was really glad that I hadn't taken any bites from that scoop because I grabbed my camera just show I could show you!



I LOVE THAT!!! It still makes me happy. Heart shaped ice cream. By accident. It wouldn't have been as great if it was on purpose. Just say'n.

So, alas we come to the end of my happy little LLUUUUUV post.

My Little Gnome Pooh would like to say goodbye.

I KNEW there was something I was supposed to do this morning!!!

Yup! I was supposed to upload those cute pictures before I left for work so that I could share them with you today. Ooops. Sorry about that. So...I will just have to dig something else up...


....this is me digging.....



....note the rustling sounds, the thuds, the cracks....Oh...no...that wasn't breaking glass....don't be ridiculous! .....hmmmmm...there's gotta be something around here to share with my lovely blog readers.....

....




....




......FOUND IT!


Here are a few layouts to share with you! I hope you love them!

This one is actually an older photo. I have since reorganized and that fabulous IKEA Expedit shelf is organized by color an it looks SO stinking pretty! I love it! It's inspiring! It really and truly is!



To see other inspiring and awesome IKEA shelves....check out this amazing Flickr Group! If you are an organizing junkie like I am you will LOVE these photos! Total Organization and Ikea porn! I'm tell'n ya! It's good stuff! You will totally want to pull out your Dymo and get to work!

This layout is done with the Close To My Heart (why, yes! I am a consultant!) Notebook collection. I really love these papers and I love how the page is about my wonderful husband and yet, it is almost entirely PINK! That makes it extra fun!



Even that way cute journaling tag was cut from one of the papers in the paper pack! LOVE that! The flowers are Prima and I was super excited to use those fabric letters because they have been sitting in my stash for EVER! Seriously, though folks! For the gold strip I adhered Super Tape and pressed microbeads onto it...remember those?!!! Yup! I went a little old school and I love it!

This one is another layout about me. Well, sort of. It's more about my word for this year. This Basic Grey paper is very much in the "stands on it's own" category, so I didn't want to do too much. The red brads are all Chatterbox brads and the stickers are from Elle's Studio. If you haven't checked out Elle's Studio yet you TOTALLY SHOULD! It's awesome stuff! She just makes me happy!



Well, if you made it this far you totally rock, in my opinion! That shows me that you love me! You really really love me! LOL! OH...and of course...don't forget to check out the GIVEAWAY on THIS post!!! It closes tomorrow night!

Have A Happy Thursday!

Jingle Out.


HAAAA!!!!!! Seriously...I just said "Jingle Out!" LOL! That's the funniest thing EVER!!!! No, for real! LOL! Okay....nope....I'm still cracking up here....Whew! That was a good one! LOL!!!!

I've been a lazy blogger....

...and I'm still feeling pretty lazy. It's snowy and icy, and rainy and just plain yuck here today. I figured I should at least make an effort and post SOMETHING! LOL!

Also, don't forget to check out the giveaway post below this one!!! I'm making three handmade brooches from felt! I'm excited!



This is Maggie Moose sleeping soundly. That's pretty much how I'm feeling! LOL! Just a sleepy sort of day! I hope yours is a great one!

Design Team News, A New Technique Class and Bloggy Giveway Time!!!

Okay...so remember last week when I told you had some exciting news...well...I made a design team!!!! I am now one of the three newest members of the Use Your Stash Design Team and I am super excited to be working with Kimmie and Corey!!! If you haven't yet checked out Use Your Stash, you totally should! It's all about making use of that hoard of supplies that we all know you have!!! I love it! Fun challenges and GREAT prizes! I will be posting here with each new challenge after it is posted on the blog! I actually got my page done for my first assignment over the weekend and I can't WAIT to share it with you guys!!!

I also wanted to share with you that I just posted a fun Technique Triple Play class over at All Moments Remembered! The class includes the full instructions for the Joseph's Coat, Toilet Paper Casting, and Retiform stamping techniques! So much fun stuff there!!!

Here is one of the cards I made for the class:



Check out the board for more!!!

And....now for lotsa stinking fun!!! I love blog giveaways! I can't do them as often on my own blog as I would like, but I am working on that! LOL! I MUST tell you about the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival I am telling you, it is INSANE!!!!

I had a blast entering (and winning!) several giveaways in the last one, so I really wanted to participate this time around! I don't have a photo of my prize yet, but I will be making a set of three felt brooches as my giveaway! I am so excited about it!!!

Here is the info you need to enter:
1. You must have a United States address. I apologize to those outside the US, however, my budget only allows for shipping to the US.

2. You must leave a way for me to contact you. This means either a blog link or an email addy. This is essential, as if you do not have this you will not be entered because I can't contact you if you win.

3. Leave a comment telling me something about yourself...please do not leave just an "enter me" type of comment, as it is way more fun to get to know people through these things!

4. You will receive an extra entry if you follow my blog! Just click on the "Follow the Leader" on my sidebar.

5. After you have entered my giveaway, head on over to Bloggy Giveaways and check out the list of other participants! She is expecting over 1000 blogs this time around!!! How cool is THAT???

Holy Crap it's Hard to Think of Creative Titles

No, seriously, though, folks! It's a little ridiculous just HOW difficult it seems to be to think of a decent, eye catching, make 'em click on the post kind of title. How do you Almighty Masters of the Art do it? Where do they come from? TELL ME!!!! I WANNA KNOW!!!! Please help this sorry title blogger!!!!

I do have some fun stuff to share with you today.

This first card is done using a classic, but ever forgotten stamping technique called Soot Stamping. When you really think about it, any technique that involves fire and your husband complaining (in good humor, of course) about the ashes you left all over the bathroom sink and the general bathroom area ('cause they do float around a bit) is TOTALLY worth doing now and then! HA!

I really love the stamp I used on this card. I think it is from Inkadinkado if I remember correctly. It is perfect for techniques like this!!!



Here is another card that I made using the BRAND NEW Maya Road stamps!!! Aren't they STINKING adorable!!! Maya Road was kind enough to send me these in a prize package that I won on their blog and I couldn't be happier! If you haven't used their stamps before, you should really check them out. I'm kind of picky about my acrylic stamps, being a CTMH consultant and all, I expect the VERY BEST in quality. These are nice, sturdy stamps and the stamp a clean, clear, crisp image! I am quite impressed with the quality that I see from Maya Road acrylics. Definitely worth checking them out! Plus...HELLO they have the CUTEST designs!!!!!

The papers are from Cosmo Cricket (the new and wonderful Chemistry line) and the embellies are Chatterbox. Love these! The ribbon is a fun one from Close To My Heart. I really liked how the products from so many companies all came together so well!



This is a layout I did with a photo of Sean that I just really liked. I used Rosa Moka papers. If you have had the chance to play with these you already know that they use some incredible detailed designs on their papers. I hate to cover those up, so I used my craft knife to cut them and then "inserted" the photo and mat into the cut designs. I then cut the butterflies from the part of the mat paper that was unused and I was thrilled! They are popped up for dimension. Overall, I really like that this page is made with PAPER! Glorious paper!!! No fancy schmancy embellishment needed!



Finally, a quick and easy page about me! This one was fun. It is very simple, but I am very happy with it, actually. I think it showcases the photos pretty well in its simplicity. What do you think?



What do you think of these projects?
Is this too many for one post? I worry that I overload you when I do posts with lots of artwork. Do you prefer to see just one or two pieces or do you like to see a few at a time?

Maybe this weekend I will try to put together a "What do you want to see on my blog" kind of survey. I'm curious. I like you guys...I'd like you to stick around, so you better tell me what you like! LOL!

Are you doing anything fun this weekend? I'm spending some time with my Mommy tomorrow. I have no idea what we are going to do yet, but we will think of something fun! Have a Happy Friday!!!

Wonderful Things Are Afoot in Scrapbooking Land!

Yes, oh, yes they are! CHA is in full swing and boy are these guys coming out with some great stuff! Maybe not as much as in previous years, but I think we are seeing a HUGE improvement in quality across the board from the manufacturers that we know and love!

Check this out from Queen & Company!

Queen & Co New Bucket Kits
Included in this release are new Queen & Co Bucket kits. Fabulous themed embellishments poured into adorable, reuseable buckets! Grab yourself a Bucket of Baby, Boy, Girl, Summer, Magic, Queen or Love. Buckets are overflowing with fabulous embellishments including, big brads, glitter brads, flocked brads, printed brads, sequin flowers, felt flowers and ribbon buckles! Everything you could ever need to embellish your hand crafted creations! (That paragraph was taken straight from their blog).



Are you SEEING that???? BUCKETS!!!! Little ADORABLE PINK BUCKETS!!!! Seriously, if you ever had a desire to make me happy - stick little wonderful felt flowers, gleefully colored brads, and various shimmery gem stones into little pink buckets and hand it to me!!!!! I promise! It WILL work!!!! Thanks Queen and Company for once again, proving, that packaging makes a HUGE difference! LOL!

AND....just to make things better...they are coming out with a line of bulk embellishments that allow you to buy ONLY what you want and not have wasteful packaging involved! I LOVE that!!!!

Also, the lovely Veronica was kind enough to point out THIS fabulous line to me yesterday!

Ummmm...yes. That is the new Bella Blvd. Sweet Celebration line. And...ummm....yes....it is filled with CUPCAKES!!!!! Wasn't it nice of them to design a line around my personal obsession? I certainly think so! We simply aren't going to mention the fact that the cupcake thing is sort of a world-wide craze and lots of people love them because that would make me sad to think they didn't design these wonderful papers just for me. So shhhh! don't tell me and everything will be fine. Just fine. Really. It will be fine. Okay, no seriously, though folks...isn't it great when a company reads your blog and that very day announces that they created a line JUST for you?! I think so! I really do!




And, ummm....guys....it get's even better!

Sassafrass Lass has come out with THREE beautiful, stunning, amazing, utterly fantabulous new paper lines!!! Seriously, though folks...this is good stuff!

Check out these awesome Owl Felties!!! Actually, I'm in love with all of the felties, in general! They make me smile big and stuff!



AND....the papers, oh.....dear......me......the papers! I am in serious paper lust here, folks....it's not even good. LOL! These things are so vibrant, so full of color, and SOOOOO calling my name!!!! I chose to post this one because it is called "Lost for Words" and that is pretty much what I am when I see these papers! LOL!



I am not even going to try to post my favorites from Cosmo Cricket. You don't have that kind of time! LOL! But you SO need to check them out! They always make me a happy girl!

Okay, so that's probably enough lustful paper and embelly gushing for today!
Have a wonderful day!

20 January 2009, 12:00pm

YAY!!!! It is finally here! Happy Inauguration Day!!! I will have my headphones GLUED into my ears all day today! I'm pretty excited! Check out yesterdays post if you didn't see it already. LOL!

I have some more projects to share with you!

This is a little mini album that I made using ID badges from good 'ole Walmart! I plan to fill it with wonderful quotes that make me think, make me laugh, make me smile, make me consider, etc....



This is a special layout to me. This is a photo of me and my dear friend, Anne Marie. We met through All Moments Remembered and live miles and miles from one another, but still, she has provided such amazing support and encouragement for me just when I needed it! AM is one of the many reasons why I love blogging and being involved in message boards - without all that - I don't know how I would have got through some of the stuff I've had to work through! She has been at my "fingertips" so to speak! LOL! So, I really love this layout because it is a REAL LIFE picture of the two of us together. I don't know if we will get that opportunity again, so I am so excited to have this token!



And finally, I want to share with you this fun layout! You know I love cupcakes...you know I adore them....you know that they make me happy...well....did you know that my obsession goes as far as actually scrapbooking this love? LOL! This was inspired by an ad I saw online. I really love this layout! I love this photo - and yes, I did take it and yes, I did make that cupcake!



So, that's what I have for you today!!! Have a wonderful day! Enjoy the History! Embrace it!!!!

On This Day...

On this day. 19 January 2009. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The day before Barack Obama is officially inaugerated and takes office. On this snowy Monday. I wish to share with you this.



It matters not who you are, what you believe, who you voted for, or where you stand politically. This is living history. This is real. This is meaningful. I am excited to see what the future brings. I am excited to see what God has planned for me. I am excited to see what God has planned for the United Sates of America.

This past weekend brought some changes into my life. The changes (or one main change, really) have invoked tears of sadness and excitement all at once. This, combined with the significance of this week, has ignited me just a bit. I am excited.
This is real.

A Few More Scrappy Projects

I have got to be honest with ya'. I haven't been feeling particularly bloggy lately and I have no clue why! For some odd reason I just don't feel like putting the effort in. I tell you this, because I like you and I wanted you to know the great PUSH I am giving myself this find morning to do it anyway! LOL!

I want to show you a few more projects that I created during the All Moments Remembered crop over the weekend!!!


OH!!!! AND I SORT OF HAVE SOME BIG NEWS TO SHARE, BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU QUITE YET, BUT I'M REALLY EXCITED AND I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL YOU!!!!!

This is an acetate card that I created. The card is clear and so much fun!



This is just a way fun monogram tag that I made for a challenge to use lots of Stickles!



And here lies one of my favorite projects of the crop! I made this fun little journal to record...well....STUFF! I cut two pieces of chipboard to my cover sizes and then covered the back cover with vinyl fabric that I had on hand. Then, I covered the front with the same fabric, only I stuffed it with polyfil before sealing it!!!! How fun is THAT? I filled it with notebook sheets and popped that sucker into the BIA for binding! The letters are just Scenic Route stickers added to the cover! This is definitely one of my favorite projects!



I have to be honest and tell you that this one is not one of my favorite projects. It is just a little window card, but for some reason it didn't really work the way I wanted it to. The House Mouse stamp really was too big for the card size and the rest just didn't come together, but it's okay and I'll show you anyway! LOL!



This one is a fun layout! I just love the bright colors and stuff!



And just one more for today....This is a notecard that I had on hand and decided to jazz it up a bit to make it more "handmade" and less $ spot! LOL!



Okay...that's all I've got for today! I'm in the middle of a JavaScript class and that's kind of fun, so I'm looking forward to todays lessons. She said it might be a little harder today, so that always makes things more interesting!

What are you up to?

Busy as a Bee, Tired as a Turtle, and Crazy as a .....something that starts with a "c"

Okay, so I'm not as creative as perhaps I could be this morning! LOL! However, I did get a ton of stuff created over the weekend due to the amazingly AWESOME crop over at All Moments Remembered! Seriously, folks, this was one fantabulous online crop! The challenges were great, the games were a BLAST and the people made the weekend one to remember! I won't share all of my stuff at once because your little heads might pop due to my immense and incredible awesomeness, but I will show you a couple of things I made to start with! (or maybe I just want to be able to stretch out my projects since they are all such wonderful blog fodder....you know....you can pick my real reason! HA!)

So, I start you off with this little lovely! It's a cupcake card using the Faux Postage technique! Basically, you just make stuff look like stamps and it is really cute! These were virgin stamps, so the stamping isn't quite up to par, as far as I'm concerned, but I'm dealing with it. I'm going to pretend that I just used the "spritz" technique to create a "watercolor-like" effect....yeah....that's what I did.....(or I got lazy and just didn't properly season my acrylic...again...you pick!)



This card, however, is of utmost awesomeness if I do say so myself! LOL! No, really, I love it so much I want to send it to me! LOL! Does that ever happen? You just fall in love with something that you make? That totally happened to me with this card! It just all came together even better than what I had in my vision and that is just the COOLEST! I think the green strip makes it? What do you think?



And the last item on today's sharing agenda is this fun layout! It is a no-photo layout, which I am rarely able to do with success, but I am actually quite pleased with the outcome of this particular layout. The theme and the design really worked well together. This was Misty's quiz challenge. She posted 10 questions that we had to answer and then create a layout about it! This is a great way to do a "glimpse of me right now" style layout! I used Heidi Swapp ledger journaling spots and just a bit of patterned paper and a pen!



And yes, I do apologize for not blogging yesterday. I just wasn't feel'n it, kwim? Some days are like that. But, I gave you some fun stuff to oggle at today, thus I fully expect your forgiveness. Yup! That's right. You have forgiven me. Thanks for that, btw! Have a Happy Tuesday!

Oh....and I just MUST share with you what Maxine (direct from my DTD calendar) has to say today:

"I keep a set of chains in my car in the winter because you never know when you'll need to make a citizen's arrest."

HA!!!! Seriously. That's hilarious. That's all I'm say'n.

BE Still and Mr. Head.

BE still.
...and know.

That is a lesson that I am being taught right now, whether I like it or not! LOL! Jessica posted a challenge at AMR that I just latched onto for some reason. The challenge was simple enough:

Create an ATC displaying your resolution/work/goal(s) for 2009. It must be 3-D in some way.

Nothing particularly fancy about the challenge in and of itself, but since my word is so important to me right now, I really embraced it. God has been not-so-subtly tossing this verse into my head a lot over the last few days, so I was inspired to create my ATC using it.



The patterned papers are Daisy D's. They aren't my usual style, but they really caught my eye the other night, so I decided to go ahead and use them. I am reading "Frill Kill" by Laura Childs right now and every time I read one of Laura's scrapbooking mysteries I am inspired to create with some of my supplies that I don't pull out very often. Her characters are always creating such interesting projects and she describes, in words, the process so beautifully, that it just makes me want to really "USE" my hands. I don't know if that makes sense, but read her books and you will get it! LOL! I can't wait for Death Swatch to come out in paper back so I can get that one and read it!!! I also picked up the first book in her new culinary series, so I'm pretty excited about that. But anyway, back to the ATC....reading the book really made me want to pull out my wire to "stitch" on some beads that I wanted to add as my flower centers. I haven't used wire in my scrapbooking in YEARS, but playing with it was so much fun that I decided to sculpt the flower from it and it turned out to be the PERFECT final touch on my ATC! I am really happy with the way it came out.




And....as you know by now, I am not the only creative person in my house. CHECK THIS OUT! Sean grabbed some clay and created this Earth Elemental. His name is Mr. Head. Mr. Friday Head.





Mr. Head is sculpted from Sculpey clay. He is an Earth Elemental inspired by a book called Selling Out by Justina Robson. I think he's pretty neat.

As always, I'd love to know what you think!

Etsy Love! HDartistics - AWESOMENESS in the form of an Etsy shop.

Yup. I said "awesomeness" what of it? HA! Actually, it appears that according to spell check "awesomeness" is, indeed, a word! How fantabulous is THAT?

(ummm...no....fantabulous is, indeed, NOT a word)

Anyway, you must be wondering by now what could be so cool as to require the use of the word "awesomeness," right? Right. Well, let me TELL you!!!!

HDartistics is pure Etsy AWESOMENESS!

Oh, my goodness! First of all, this shop is run by the fabulous, absolutely ADORABLE Harley! Did you SEE the name of her blog? Seriously, though folks...how could you not fall in love with someone who calls their blog KOALA FUZZ? Just face it. You can't. And that is why I am so excited to introduce you to Harley and her amazingly cute Etsy shop!

Harley is a woman of many talents. She works with paper, clay, fabric, yarn, and probably more stuff that I don't even know about because she's just THAT good!

Take this absolutely delicious Ice Cream Stick Pin, for example! I LOVE these things! First of all, it's a stick pin...who doesn't need those around the house? So...it is useful! Second of all, it is ice cream...who doesn't need THAT around the house? Nobody...we all MUST have ice cream because it is cute. Third of all...It makes your pin cushion look even CUTER than it already is...and Fourth of all (can you even have a fourth of all? Is there some "regulation" on "of alls?"...I digress...once again...) FOURTH of all...would that not look SO adorable stuck on a scrapbook page, a card, or even through the lapel of your favorite spring coat (yes...I'm moving on to spring because I am sick and stinking tired of winter!)!!!! I'm thinking YES! It would look adorable on all of the above!



Okay...now that I am done gushing about THAT...I can move onto THIS!

Seriously...I have a thing for pin cushions. No, really. It's a recent development, but I have just fallen head over heels in love with super cute pin cushions. Wanna know the funny part....I don't sew! HA! (But I am hoping to learn...eventually....as soon as my husband teaches me...yes, I realize that it is pathetic that he can sew and I can't, but I'm okay with that).
Harley makes the most adorable little pin cushions and I just love them! Check out this one that she sold awhile back:




Oh, MY CUTENESS!

Okay, so now that you have seen all the wonders that she has made, you should totally go check out her shop! I know she is planning an update soon, too, so keep your eyes open for that! Lots of fun new goodies!

Sooooo....did you go? What did you love?

Reminder: If you own a small shop (Etsy, ArFire, etc.) and would like to be featured on my blog please let me know! I'm always looking for great new shops to review!

What are YOU doing this weekend? Wanna Play?

Yup! You saw that right! It's a HUGE anniversary crop over at AMR!!!

And...just to make things better, it is being run by one of my dearest friends ... (I don't know if she knows that and quite frankly I don't use words like that lightly, so I hope she doesn't mind that I put that here, but really, she is, she is so wonderful and so supportive, and such a blessing in my life, but anyway...I digress....)....ANNE MARIE!!!!

Here are the general details! Be sure to head over to AMR to register before Friday, as it can take a little bit to get your acceptance email since Stacey is the only one running the joint! She works her little heart out and pours it into this awesome message board and store, so you totally need to join and you totally need to be a part of this! Seriously...you will make friends. No, not like those anonymous random online kind of friends, I mean, real, lasting relationship kind of friends! And the best part is .... if you come to the crop this weekend, you will get to meet tons of people, be totally inspired, join in on free classes, tutorials, and challenges, and have the chance to win all sorts of fun prizes! Seriously, though folks, what could be better than all of that? NOTHING!!!! So....come. You will make me happy. We are going to have an AWESOME time! I can't wait! I have pics on the way!!! (Of course, there is a good chance that they won't make it by then, but that's okay, I know what I ordered and I can add them on later! LOL!)

Here is a rundown of the festivities!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
January 9-10, 2009

CROP HOURS
Hey gals, this is going to be a BIG, FUN-FILLED crop to celebrate the 1 year Anniversary of the AMR Message Board -- but it's also a trial run of a "big crop" idea that Stacey and Anne Marie want to do every 3 months or so, filling in with smaller more informal crops in the months in between. The schedule is designed to please our "late night girlz" as well as our "early bird girlz", the west coast, the east coast, and everyone in between!

Anne Marie will be the Crop Host during most of the event, with Stacey and others filling in to Host the hours I can't do it. We will have some activities & AMR challenges posted during the most "awake" times for everyone -- and those activities and challenges (once posted) will be available for the rest of the crop so you won't feel like you'll miss anything! Post away if you have any questions!

Schedule (Pacific Time):
Friday -- 6pm -12am
Saturday -- 9am-9pm

Schedule (Mountain Time):
Friday -- 7pm-1am
Saturday -- 10am-10pm

Schedule (Central Time):
Friday -- 8pm-2am
Saturday -- 11am-11pm

Schedule (Eastern Time):
Friday -- 9pm-3am
Saturday -- 12pm-12am

Classes, Challenges, Etc.
4 Fun Classes -- will be sprinkled thru the schedule, and each Class will have a Challenge. You'll have until Thursday, Jan. 15 to submit your entry to the challenge post to be in the RAK drawing for that Class.

Member Challenges -- everyone loves this, so let's keep going! If you want to submit a challenge, you're welcome to run it by me first or just hold it until the Crop and post it in the Crop Forum.

Crop Hours -- I picked these hours to appeal to both West Coast and East Coast croppers, the early birds and the late nighters -- a little something that fits somewhere in almost everyone's schedule! Whoever wants to come into the Crop Forum earlier than the scheduled hours, you're welcome to do so! There just won't be any scheduled activities or AMR Hosts ... but YOU can just jump in and be your own host and even post your own challenges or giveaways if you want to get the ball rolling! I think everyone loves it when we can be flexible and just hang loose, so have at it!

CROP SUPPLY LIST!

Kelli's Class: "Inchie Card" -- this is so cute, you're going to love it!

15/16" "inchie punch" (if you don't have one, a 1" punch will do!)
cardstock in various colors
your favorite Rubber Stamp Tapestry set, or set of small floral images
stamp pads in colors of your choice
ruler
adhesive
embellishments if desired

Laura's Class: Mini Badge Album -- she has a lot of clever ideas on how to use this adorable mini! Seems like a lot of supplies, but it's just that she's thorough, so don't panic!

8x8 piece (or larger) of Mat Board (Similar to Cosmo Cricket’s Black board, available at art framing stores).
1-2 Binder Rings OR ¾ inch Bind-It-All wires
1 pkg of badge holders (in the office supply section of Target, Wal-Mart, or office supply store)
3-4 sheets of a coordinating line, preferably with a design element that can be cut out like flowers, animals, etc. (Class example will be based on Basic Grey’s Urban Prairie, available at AMR).
12” of a matching ¾ wide ribbon.
Diamond Glaze OR Glossy Accents
Your favorite paper-to-chipboard adhesive
craft knife
sanding block, file, or sandpaper
cropadile (or hole punch)

Optional Supplies: ponytail holder or super-durable rubber band; Coin or small envelope to match the size of your badge holders, bind-it-all, cuttlebug/big kick, oval nestabilities

Anne Marie's Class: 2009 Goals/Dreams Layout -- I may not be the most creative person in the world, but I'm organized like no one's business, LOL! So I thought I'd guide you through capturing your goals & dreams for the new year in a layout!

Any favorite papers & embellies.
Optional: 2-3 sheets of vellum to create small envelopes
Look for pre-class post 1st week of January to help you prepare the journaling for this layout!

Samantha's Class: Black Soot Stamping technique -- YES! Sam is coming back! Some of you may have seen an example of this technique on her blog. She's going to take us step-by-step. I can't wait!

Glossy White cardstock
Versamark ink & Basic Black ink
a candle (you'll be using an open flame, so make sure you have a safe, stable area to do this!)
a kleenex or paper towel

Important Crop Supply Note -- If you DON'T have the supplies and can't get them.... PLEASE DON'T SWEAT IT! Life is too short. Just jump right in and I'm sure between you, me, the class leader, and the other 500 women on this board we can think of all sorts of substitutions, LOL!

So, all in all, it's time for some SERIOUS fun, here folks! Grab your papper trimmer and let's PARTY!!!!

"Be."

I, like many others, have chosen a word to be on my thoughts for this year. I'm not usually one for resolutions or year-long type projects, but I jumped on this one last year with the word "enjoy" and I really embraced it throughout the year, so I've decided to do it again this year.

That's it. That's my word. Be.
It actually means a lot to me and it has been on my mind for a long time, so I am looking forward to focusing on it this year. It can really go so very many ways and I am excited to begin this adventure.

I created this journal album to play with throughout the year. It will be filled with quotes, images, drawings, or whatever strikes my fancy in relation to my word.

For more on choosing a word for the year check out Ali's blog.

I also created this little jar (sorry for the yucky lighting in this shot!) to record what I make this year. Angie over at AMR had this great idea to track everything that we create so that we have something to look back on at the end of the year. Well, while I could have grabbed any number of little journals around my scrapbook room, I knew I wouldn't be good about writing stuff down, so I had to think of a system that I would get into. This is what I came up with! Sean cut the slit in the top of this recycled salsa jar for me and then I covered the lid with UTEE and added the scalloped circle and the ribbon. I wrapped fun paper around the jar and used Carolee's Creations Foam alphabet stickers to put the word "Creations" all the way around it. Now, each time I make something I will use a small scrap of the paper I used for the project (or just any scrap if none is available) and I will slide it into the jar with the name of the project on it. That way, at the end of the year I will have a little jar stuffed with my creative accomplishments for the year! I'm excited about the process, so I hope it works! LOL!



What are you all up to this week? I am finally feeling a bit better and back to work today. Gotta get settled back into a regular routine after all the holiday craziness! Have a great day!

OH! I got a new Page-A-Day calendar....it's MAXINE!!!!

Maxine's thoughts for today: "Well, it's time to go back to work. Now if I can just figure out what mound of snow my car is buried under."

With that, I bid you good day!

Happy New Year!!!!