Where did September and October go????

Seems like just the other day I wrote and look, it's been 2 months! Where does the time go? I have a stamp that says "Times fun when you are having flies". Seems appropriate. My class this year is an absolute dream. I love each of them. We are heading into conferences and I'm so looking forward to meeting what must be wonderful parents of wonderful children. That old say, "nuts never fall far from the tree" can work the other way, too. :)

So, have I had time to create? Never as much as I'd like, ever. :) I made a card for my good friend's wedding and one for Michael to celebrate 1000 days of knowing each other. Then I have two layouts: a layout celebrating the tradition of the pies my mom bakes, and one of Katie with her first snowman.

Jen's card:

Congratulations, Jenn and Johnny and best wishes for a long and loving life together.

Michael's card:

He took me to dinner, bought me beautiful white roses, and a very heartfelt card.

Mom's pies layout:

Mom makes 12-15 pies every Thanksgiving and has been doing it for many years. It's a wonderful tradition that the whole family anticipates. She starts in the summer and makes pies based on fresh in-season fruit and then freezes them. Everyone can choose to have one of each or just their favorites (no one seems to have just one) and we all hope there is enough left over for breakfast the next morning.

Doing the layout was challenging, fun, and satisfying. The photography was not the greatest but the pictures tell a great story. I didn't have pie stamps but thought the neutral theme of trees would work. Then, to spiff it up a little, I embroidered on the trees. :) Something new for me!!!!

Finally, Katie's snow layout:
Katie is all bundled up and can hardly move her arms. I loved her saying, "Oook it da noooooo", at one and a half. :)

Thanks for taking the time to look and read!

Summer Creatviity

It's been a busy summer with lots of visitors coming and going in my household. I have to admit that I have not created as much as I'd like to have created over the summer but here's what came out of my studio the last month and a half.

A going away to college gift for my niece Paige:

A layout of my darling granddaughter Katie when she was one:

Another layout of my son's Loren and his family's visit July 4th this year:

My shower gift to my good friend Jen who is getting married in a month:

And last a layout of a 2001 visit from my Dad who lives in Michigan:

Though I didn't create as much as I'd have liked, I like most of what I did do. :) Hope everyone is having a good summer!

Quicky Mini Scrap Book and another Retreat layout done!!!

A productive weekend for me!!!! Yeah! My report cards were done in time to go to an all day crop with a few friends from school. I so enjoyed loving scrapping with friends and I'm so lucky to have found some great friends at school who like paper arts, too. I made a quick 6X6 mini accordion album for a great-grandma gift to give away later this month and I finished a layout with pictures of my oldest friend from college, Barb. The layout was one of the double page layouts I put together at the CTMH Album Retreat in January. Now I hope to finish a birthday card for my brother's 50th later tonight.

First Layouts from Retreat finished!

I had a great long weekend in Salt Lake City at the Close to My Heart Album Retreat. We did 21 pages, or 10 two page layouts and one title page, and Michael's mini album. It was an amazing weekend. I roomed with two new friends that I never met until we arrived at the SLC airport and Betsy Gully, a scrapping/card making friend from the DOTS days. We never left the hotel once we started scrapping Thursday night until we finished late Saturday afternoon. All meals were provided so we scrapped 8+ hours a day. It was unbelievable and I had the best time! I'm saving to go again next year! Anyway, here are three layouts I have completely finished with pictures.

Baby Book and Wedding Card

I have been busy in my craft room. My first order from the new catalog arrived yesterday. I unpacked everything and then disciplined myself to work on two projects before getting into the new stuff. This is a 9X9 accordion baby book made with some retired CTMH paper I made for my principal who is going to have a baby the first week of school. I also made a card to go with Sharon's True Fit Folio I made a few weeks ago. So, what do you think?

This cards was an attempt to copy one made by Pammie Whammie but well, one thing led to another and this is what I ended up with. Like Pam's card, I used the Cuttlebug and similar stamps but I changed the color, some of the positions and embellishments are different. Pam's card was remarkable and I loved it but this card, to me, anyway, is just OK.

A suprise and an honor

Laural sent this to me and I was very surprised! How nice and how honored!




I'm awarding to my inspiration: Erica and Karen.

Karen's Challenge

Another color challenge: Hollyhock, Buttercup, Garden Green, Vineyard Berry, and Bamboo and any Solor stamps sets chosen by Karen Kemme. I used the Boom-di-Ada Creative Basics papers. I made my own word puzzle stamp by going though all the Solo sets and picking words that conveyed my feelings about my friends and our get togethers. This did not turn out to be my favorite layout I've even done. I used ricrac for the first time on a layout, too. It's really thick and bulky. I'm not sure I like it, either, and I have a lot of it to use up. :( so for better or for worse, here is:

Would Love to Meet!

Two incredible stampers that I love their style and would LOVE to meet:

Erica Michel and Karen Kemme. One has a blog: Erica (you can find her on the right listed under SBS 21). I'm trying to convince Karen to start blogging just because I'm selfish and want to be able to find her stuff easily. Update 7/27/08 10:00 PDT: Karen has a blog now!!!! Yeah!!!! Click on her name to see her incredible layout.

If I could get 1/100th of the talent and vision those two have!!!!

Not to mention, they have to be two of the nicest people I've met through Close to My Heart and on the internet.

And if I could stamp like Vicki, Sonja, or Laurel, well, I'd quit my day job.....

There are lots of people I admire and I get inspiration from but these four have something in their style and creativity that really strikes my soul and I keep going back to their artwork time after time.

Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers #21 or is it Sisterhood of the Blogging Scrappers #21?

I'm taking the plunge and joining a Sisterhood! I'm a teacher and live in a quaint, small little waterfront town on Puget Sound in Washington. I have two grown sons and my oldest has even provided me with grandchildren, which are often the subject of my scrapping. I'm single but have a wonderful romantic associate (OK, a sweetie) in my life and we enjoy fine wines, road trips, reading, computers, biking, fine dining at home or on the road, and talking about the future.

Speaking of scrapping, I've been stamping for about 15 years and scrapping since 1997. I've been a Close to My Heart consultant since 1997 but I no longer sell anything except to myself. I have been stamping and scrapping long enough to see trends come and go, over the years. I used to demo for some stamp companies and attended a couple of CHA Trade and Conventions waaaay back when... It was interesting but the trends and techniques were happening so fast I got burned out and at that time, CTMH came out with "Back to the Basics". And so, 11 years later, here I am.

My style both in stamping and scrapping has changed with the trends over the years as most people's have. And I'm just as sure it will continue to evolve with new trends and materials. I am trying to find a balance, though between just a few new trends, keeping things simple, and keeping things affordable (LOL). I find I miss my stamping friends since I moved to Mukilteo as I haven't found many who stamp or scrap or enjoy socializing while crafting. I'm looking forward to inspiration and inspiring and just companionship in this hobby of mine.

You can read more about me here on my blog and I will start reading my sisters' blogs to get to know them. Please post and chime in when you visit, Sisters!

Another of Marjorie's Challenges!

Here is a card I did this morning for Bell, a new CTMH sister I met in Langely! I had a great time chatting with Bell and I wanted to give her a thank-you for lunch. This is for Marjorie's #17 Challenge: Bubblegum, Kiwi, Watermelon, and Sunny Yellow.

Finished!!!! Yeah, after all this time!!!!

I finally finished my layout of Barb's and my road trip to WSU in 2004. I have spent 4 years looking at the pictures and thinking about how find the words and expressions that would convey how I feel about this trip and taking it with Barb. I'm not sure I ever would have gotten it just right even with more time. But it's done and it meets Marjorie's #15 Color Challenge: Barn Red, Crystal Blue, Bamboo, and White Daisy. I added lots of silver embellishments because WSU's colors are crimson and silver.

Tulips from 2005

As I worked on this layout, I realized that Jen and I have seemed to find one day during each of the last 4 spring breaks to spend time together, (almost every year since 2005). In 2005 we went to Mt. Vernon to view the tulips. Here is the layout I finally finished thanks to a color challenge and an Out of Your Box challenge to use specified quotes from my Close to My Heart site. This year we scrapped together but it's hard to take pictures when you are scrapping. The color challenge was to use Hollyhock, Sunkissed Yellow, Sweet Leaf, and Cranberry; Marjorie's 9th color challenge. (Am I behind or what??? She posts one challenge a week, YIKES!) The Out of Your Box challenge is by another incredible consultant, Pam Klassen. She posts quotes and challenges us to use them in our layouts or cards. This quote: Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain.