(diva)logues

True dat.

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you've already seen photos from our weekend in Denver.  We left on Good Friday (the first day of Bryn's "spring break") and came home last night.  It was a family vacation involving us & my parents visiting my sister, who's lived there for almost a year now.  Downtown Denver, where she lives, pretty much ROCKS.  I can now understand what she loves about living there.  It kind of reminds me of New York, in that you can walk everywhere.   Our whole point in going was because March 31 (Easter Sunday) marked 11 years since my other sister passed away suddenly from menengitis.  And this was the first year Easter was on March 31 again, as it was the day she passed away.   It was an AWESOME weekend.  So much fun together, so many laughs, a few tears & the most incredible sunrise service I've ever seen at Red Rocks Amphitheater.  It was a blessing to be able to spend the weekend with them.  I'm so thankful. 

And my welcome back home was a last minute request to sub the 5:30am Zumba class this morning after our flight landed last night at 8pm.  It was FUN though & I'm glad I did it.  No rest for the wicked! 

Another thing you may have seen already on Facebook is this letter I found on our printer one morning... a letter Bryn wrote to Harry Styles (you know... One Direction... and the guy I guess everyone is in love with... including my daughter apparently.)

Well I mean, not EVERYONE is in love with him.  Personally I think he's kind of a dork. 

Anyway... I wanted to save the letter.  And rather than just throw it in a box with all her other school stuff  I'm saving from this year, I thought I'd add it to the scrapbook.  The photo was taken while we were shopping one day... before the letter was written... but it worked perfectly with the content of the letter...

The fun chevron background paper is Simple Stories Vintage Bliss.  I bought a few pieces of patterned paper from that collection recently.  I'm not usually drawn to anything "vintage" in scrapbooking, but this collection has some fun colors & patterns.  I also added some random extras on the page that matched...

 

Did you read the letter?  It's pretty funny. 

What am I gonna do with that crazy kid?

"Everyone's itchin for beauty, but you're scratchin the surface..."

It was fun celebrating a friend's birthday today with lunch at a French restaurant.  I do love a good Nicoise salad & they just happened to have one.  Most of these girls that were at lunch today, were also at another birthday party in January that was a ton of FUN too!  In fact, I had just finished working with the photos from that party last night.

The page is a combination of things... mostly bits & pieces from the SNAP collection...

On the Let's Dance cut-out... I added a new SRM Sticker Stitches to the top.  I like to use faux stitching sometimes on pages (like I did around the border of my white space), and these new stickers will be fun to use too!  I also used a SRM birthday sentiment sticker to create my title.  Love the Bright SRM border stickers that I added under my title...  

And coincidentally... I received this thank you note from that party today...

Gotta love cute thank you notes!   ♥

Wha' shoe lookin' at?

You know it's really cold outside & HOT inside when the windows in the Zumba room are all fogged up.

Zumbliciousness.

Just a couple more pages here using some more of my December photo stash, along with more of the My Mind's Eye 12 Days of Christmas collection.  You'd think I'd used it all by now, but hang tight!  I still have a few more scraps.  LOL 

I mixed in some old Cosmo Cricket (the polka dot background paper) + some Simple Stories Fabulous stickers.  The shoe is a downloaded clip art image to fit the theme, with some added bling.  It doesn't look like any of the 3 pairs of shoes she received, but frankly I don't care.  It matches the page.

This kid is a total NUT.  I'll admit she gets the crazy faces from me, along with the outta control excitement over shoes.  She better study hard & get a good job... that's all I can say...

On the next page I wanted to use the photos Bryn had taken with her iPod Touch when she attended a parade with her friend.  They aren't the best quality photos, but I'm all for using imperfect photos in the books to document an event...

I made my own tree + added some bling.  I do love me some bling...

I also kinda love graph paper.

Duh.

It's almost the weekend!  ROCK ON...

Rock on...

I made a trip to Archivers yesterday after lunch with my date.  I don't go there very often anymore, but I went looking for some of the new Amy Tangerine collection.  Thankfully it wasn't a wasted trip.  I bought some of the paper & a package of the stitched Thickers... love those.  The last thing I need to be buying is more scrapbooking stuff, but that yellow chevron paper... had. to. have. it.      

For now, though, I have another mix of random stash.  I feel the need to use what's still laying around, because once I file it away behind cabinet doors, I tend to forget about it.  This one is a mix of mostly Cosmo Cricket, Bella Blvd & Pink Paislee.  It's not the most rock-n-rollish page, but at our age we aren't exactly diving into mosh pits anymore either...    

 

I altered the iPod cut-out a bit.  The original highlighted music category on there was "hip hop."  So I typed out "rock & roll" on Word, highlighted it with yellow like the original was, printed it & covered it.  I used some of my Glossy Accents on the "screen" to give it a little more dimension...

 

And speaking of mosh pits... I'm loving that song "My Body" by Young The Giant ever since I saw them on the MTV Video Music Awards the other night.  And I must play it really loud... 

Is it just me, or is May as crazy of a month as December?

I think this very thought every year at this time.  In addition to all that we have going on around here, it's also the end of the school year... which means that I somehow get school party planning responsibilities on my shoulders as well.  I do it for Bryn, because she REALLY wants me there.  It's just that I have a lot going on right now, so laying awake at night thinking about the class party getting planned is the last thing I want on my mind.  I'd much rather just show up, watch & leave the job to someone else.  Really.  I would.   

Which brings me to a blog I enjoy reading.  I started reading  Stephanie's blog because she's a very talented scrapbooker.  But what brings me back every day is her ability to express herself through her writing.  She speaks with such honesty about being a mom & I can totally relate to much of what she says.  She has 4 very young daughters, 2 of which are twins & not even a year old yet.  In her post today she was talking about losing her patience or yelling or being sarcastic.  And how yesterday was a "scream in the pillow & want to drink a bottle of wine kind of day."  While I don't have a husband in the military who is away from home a lot, and I don't have 4 children... I can relate to having moments of temporary insanity.  I'd like to think we all can relate to that.  Whether we say it or not. 

Like yesterday for instance.  I was completely irritated to find out that I needed to get a class party organized by next Thursday, and for some strange reason had been under the assumption all year that I wasn't going to have to do that.  So as I'm sitting in the bathroom thinking about how irritated I was, Bryn barged in & yelled, "Hey Mama!"  It was a sweet, innocent thing on her part, but I yelled, "What?!" partially because of what I was thinking about just prior to that & partially because when I'm in the bathroom there's no knocking.  It's like Grand Central Station... may as well invite the neighbors in too!  Anyway, she just looked at me & said, "Are you mad?"  I said, "No.  I'm just annoyed about the class party."  She said, "Well don't be mad at me!"  I said, "I know.  I'm not mad at YOU, I just get frustrated when people just assume I can do something without asking first.  I'm sorry I yelled."  

Just one of the many, many conversations we have while I'm in the bathroom.  Although I guess someday I'll be missing that & wishing she was home to barge in on me.  LOL  Anyway, in reading Stephanie's blog I guess she makes me feel normal.  Like I'm not the only one who sometimes feels like I may lose my mind.  Or maybe I already have & I just haven't realized it yet?   

Lucky for me I have awesome friends.  And just having lunch with them & laughing my butt off makes everything ok.  Even school parties.  It will be get planned and in just a couple weeks, my 4th grader will be looking forward to her last year of elementary school in the fall.  The last year of school parties.  Definitely going to get her the American Girl doll stuff she wants for her birthday, too.  Maybe we can extend her youth & innocence just a little bit longer. ;-)      

 

More fun times ahead this weekend, which means MORE party pics with my friends!  Love them!

I'd love to stay & chat, but I really mus-tache...

A new challenge has been posted at the Nikki Sivils' blog today... Are You Foolin' Me?  With April Fools' Day this month, the challenge is to create something funny or foolish.  Here's what I did with it...

 

Play along with us here for the chance to win some Nikki Sivils' papers!

I had a page featured on Aussie Scrap Source yesterday for a feature on Cosmo Cricket. 

Bob had a fun birthday yesterday.  We had lunch together & did a little shopping afterward...

 

... and then dinner with my family.  As usual... Marci & I dressed alike.  This time it wasn't to wear the same color, but we both wore off-the-shoulder outfits.  Bryn said when she saw Marci walk in, "Oh that is really creepy."  LOL...

 

I wouldn't say it's creepy, but it is pretty amusing.  Great minds think alike!

Waiting for my parents to come over & join us for dinner now... because lord knows we didn't celebrate enough last night.  The party must continue on!  Someone please pass the Advil...

I ♥ party pics...

A couple nights ago I received a box from Cosmo Cricket... one I wasn't expecting.  I am always excited to see a Cosmo Cricket box on the front porch though!  It was a follow-up to the 3 new lines they'd sent back in January... a package of the Social Club chipboard stickers and a package of their new Glubers.  I don't think they were ready to ship at the time, so being the ever-generous-company that they are... they sent them out now. 

So... with "Social Club" back on the brain, out came more party pics that I have yet to scrap!  Since I hate to leave any photos out, my challenge is always coming up with a design that allows for multiple photos from each event + journaling + I want to keep the page from looking like a hot mess.  That and I really do try to not use the same boring design over & over again.  This is why I'm not a very fast scrapper... too much to think about...     

  

In addition to using the Social Club chipboard stickers, I used mostly their Upcycle line and some of my stickers from the new Life is Good SRM sticker set.  My lined journaling spot in the middle is paper from the Nikki Sivils' Summer line and the pink paper I used behind my photos & journaling is from the Echo Park Playground line (I did say you'd see it again!)  I drew & hand-cut my cloud for my title using some left-over Studio Calico paper.

I added some glitter to my "ice" in the ice bucket cut-out just to add a little more interest... great for the photo, not so great for the scrapbook.  LOL

 

Thank you, Cosmo Cricket, for always being so generous with the SRM Stickers team!  You are the best!    

"... my mind's dirty and it don't need cleanin'..."

 
Had a perfect 2 days of scrapping (well, one day & one very late night, that is)... and for just one page, too.  But it was great to create something just for fun... no assignments, no requirements... just a mix of my own stash.  And it was MAJOR stash reduction on this one, too.  Gotta love that.  Quite a bit of Pink Paislee's Soiree line they sent me, My Mind's Eye, Doodlebug Designs, Echo Park, Cosmo Cricket, Basic Grey & SRM Stickers... just to name a few! 

Just a few photos & journaling from each day of our trip, put into a calendar-like format.  Nevermind that Bob has to wear his reading glasses to actually read the journaling.  It all fit without having to make a mini book, so that's all that matters... ;-)

 

(you can click on the images for a larger view)...

 

Mixing & matching of old & new products will always be my favorite way to scrap.  Need to find the time to stay true to that.  It makes me happy & inspired to create.

Speaking of things that make me happy... I'm off to Zumba!  Migraine & all...

SRM Stickers & Cosmo Cricket make a great team...

The SRM Stickers blog has been featuring new pages, cards & projects this week using the 3 brand new lines from Cosmo Cricket.  I've been having fun creating with these new lines.  They are ALL so fun & full of bright colors and patterns. 

 

This page was made using the "Upcycle" line + the Happy Birthday stickers from SRM.  Love how fun & festive "Upcycle" is... perfect for some birthday party photos! 

 

To make my "balloons," I simply used a small circle punch and added a few clear SRM star stickers to some of them.  Then I added a tied bunch of bakers twine.  Do you need some bakers twine?  I have TONS (and I mean TONS) of it in my etsy shop.... 10 yards of red + white bakers twine for $1.50 + postage. 

I also made a couple cards, one of which I posted here recently.  And in keeping with the birthday theme... I made a birthday card with some more of my SRM birthay stickers (love those big cupcake stickers!)...

 

Thank you again to Cosmo Cricket for your continued generosity with the SRM Stickers team.  I, for one, am endlessly grateful! 

A "magic" non-functioning pinwheel...

Today through Wednesday, the SRM Stickers blog will be featuring tons of projects created with the 3 brand new lines from Cosmo Cricket!  Cosmo Cricket was once again SO GENEROUS with the SRM Stickers design team & they sent each of us all 3 new lines.  Last week, I posted a page I made using the "Social Club" line.  You can see it here if you missed it.

Today, I thought I'd make something using the "Salt Air" line + one of the new magic wands from SRM Stickers!  Have you seen the new magic wands?  They are 12 inches long & much thinner than the original tubes.  The possibilities for the tubes & wands are endless...   

 
I decided to use my magic wand to make a pinwheel.  I used an entire 12 x 12 sheet of paper from the Salt Air line, made my cuts, added a flower & a corduroy brad in the middle to hold it all together.  Inside the wand, I added yellow candy to coordinate with the colors in the paper...

 

 

It wasn't easy to photograph since it's so big!  And, no, it's not a functioning pinwheel.  I'm not going to get that carried away!  But it could probably make a fun party favor or centerpiece!          

On Wednesday I'll be posting a page & some cards I made using the "Upcycle" line!  It's a fun line to create with for sure!  In fact, they ALL are! 

Happy Monday!  We had a great trip, but I'm glad to be back home again!   Off to Spin class... :-)

Socailizing...

 

In preparation for next week's SRM Stickers + Cosmo Cricket blog hop, Cosmo Cricket was generous as always & sent us their 3 brand new lines.  Thank you, Cosmo Cricket!  And since I'm already prepared for the blog hop, I thought I'd make something else just for fun using the Social Club line.  What a perfect line for documenting a Girls Night Out! 

 

I also used the Quick Cards Party stickers & the We've Got Your Sticker Happy set... love that bold HAPPY sticker!  And fyi... that wine bottle is an old sticker I found in my stash that had a White Zinfandel label on it.  I had to make a new label that said "Chardonnay" instead.  "Cause homey don't play dat.  Nasty... 

Have a great week!

Well, isn't that special...

 

Just incase you were wondering what I was doing when I sliced the tip of my finger off, I was making this card.  It was going to be part of my post for the upcoming SRM Stickers + Cosmo Cricket blog hop, but I'll just post a couple other things instead since I have nothing else to post lately.  I have lots of completed projects & a few pages in progress, but it's work I've done in advance & can't post yet.  And by the way, there was no blood on the card so it's still totally usable.  LOL

My finger, 2 weeks + 1 day later... but who's counting, still hurts intemittantly so badly it's almost unbearable.  I saw the hand specialist on Tuesday.  I waited for almost an hour & 1/2 before he saw me.  Said he had to do an emergency amputation in the office & it made him late.  Told me not to look in that particular room when I was leaving, as it was still a bit bloody.  Ewww.  I have had thoughts of amputating my finger lately if it would mean the pain would go away forever though.  Hopefully it heals soon... getting impatient here.  Crazy how one little part of my finger can cause so much pain.   

So, let's see... trying to finish as much as I can of my new HIP 2B SQUARE kit before I leave for some fun in the SUN.  Also have not packed one item of clothing for anyone yet.  Not one.  Must get out of the craft room pronto.

 

Have a great weekend!  

A little more Circa 1934...

It just occurred to me that I never posted this card I made using my leftover Circa 1934 from Cosmo Cricket during the SRM Stickers blog hop.  I believe I mentioned you were going to see a certain snowflake again & here it is...

 

 

If you recall, it looks just like the one on the cover of my December mini book which, by the way, should be finished up by tomorrow.  

And speaking of snowflakes... since we had some snow on Christmas Eve that has yet to melt, Bryn took advantage of it & did a little sledding down the hill next to our house on Sunday... 

 

 

 

 

Later that day, Bob came home & apparently saw her snow boots sitting in the garage as he was about to come in the door.  He said, "Hey... you have dog poop on your snow boots!"  Bryn looked at me and said, "Oh is that what that was?  I thought it was mud." 

I said, "Ok, well, how about if next time you see something that's brown, whether it's mud or poop, you just try to go around it." 

And then... I conveniently asked Bob to clean up the poop.  He was NOT amused.  Heehee...

'Tis the season for gift card holders...

I secretly wish I could give everyone on my shopping list gift cards.  Totally impersonal, I know.  But oh, how it would make life at Christmas time SO much easier & stress-free, wouldn't it?  Frankly I LOVE receiving gift cards, myself.  But that's probably because I love to shop... especially when it's free.  Heehee!  Anyway, back to reality here.  I do give out a few gift cards during the holidays.  I know that teachers, for one, enjoy them a whole lot more than having 85 "favorite teacher ornaments" collected over the years.  So, I'm always trying to find a creative way to package them.   

The other day while blog-hopping, I came across a free download for a pillow box cut-out found here. 

 
The orange pattern is cute & all, but I wanted to make it my own, using some of the product I had laying on my craft table.  So after I printed it out, I traced that pattern onto my Cosmo Cricket paper, cut that out & then scored it according to faint lines that were on the original. 

 

 

Adhere on the fold lines with a double-stick tape or glue & insert your gift card before closing it...

 

I embellished the front of the pillow box with a cut-out tag from the Cosmo Cricket "1934" line, a SRM happy holidays sticker sentiment, some of my never-ending supply of bakers twine, some pleated cardstock folded into the shape of a flower & a simple little jingle bell...

 

For more inspiring ideas for gift card holders, check out the SRM Stickers blog today!  I plan on using some of the other great ideas myself!  ;-)

SRM Stickers + Cosmo Cricket blog hop, Circa 1934...

Welcome to the SRM Stickers + Cosmo Cricket blog hop!  Cosmo Cricket was once again so generous with the SRM Stickers team & sent us the new Circa 1934 line.  Our focus with this line was to create a project with a "family" theme in mind.  I used some recent photos taken at my father-in-law's apartment before he moved into the nursing home where he currently resides & added some Father's Day themed stickers... 

 

 

 
Once again, I used Glossy Accents on my clock & then added a little bit of bling for the center of the time-piece... 

 

I used Circa 1934 for a few more projects that will be posted soon... so stay tuned for those! 

Your next stop on the blog hop is the always-inspiring Jing-Jing Nickel!  Don't forget to finish up on the SRM Stickers blog for a chance to win a Cosmo Cricket Crafting Kit and a SRM Stickers prize package! 

Thanks for hopping by! 

Crafting with kids...

Today on the SRM Stickers blog, there's a feature on "Crafting with Kids."  This is something we do frequently around here, so this challenge wasn't too difficult for Bryn & I to complete as we had 26 treat bags to assemble for her class party last week. 

We kept this project simple & started with your basic brown lunch bags.  They are very cheap & the brown color works well for this time of year.  We also used my 6x6 Cosmo Cricket Matilda mini deck, white cardstock, a couple punches, a pumpkin stamp & our Halloween-themed SRM Stickers...  

 

Bryn colored in all the pumpkin stamps with orange & green colored pencils...

 

We stapled a simple piece of ribbon on top of our tags after adhering our punched circles together...

 

Just to add a little more interest, we used our Martha Stewart border punch on top of the bags...

 

It's always easier to complete a big project when you have a little helper!  And quite frankly, treat bags don't need to be too fancy when they're for a big group of 9-10 year olds who really just want the candy that's inside them... right?! 

My October HIP 2B SQUARE kit arrived yesterday, so I'm getting started on it today!  Have a FABULOUS weekend! 

You want to meet when? Let me pencil you in...

I'll pencil you in on my new calendar, that is! 

Today on the SRM Stickers blog, they are featuring calendars!  I, along with a few other designers, decided to tackle one.  I have to admit, it did take me a few days to complete this calendar.  But, I left it on my craft table & would work on it as I found free time.  It was fun to make & now is the perfect time to make one for yourself before the holidays are upon us! 

To make my SRM Stickers calendar, I started with the 8x8 size.  They also have 6x6, 12x12 and Baby's First Year calendars! 

And from there, I used some old stuff + some new stuff and LOTS of SRM Stickers!  I mean seriously, I think I may have used 1 sticker from every single SRM Sticker sheet ever made to complete this calendar.  Ok, maybe not really.  But there are quite a FEW!  If you have any questions on a particular product though, just leave me a comment & I'll let you know what I used!  

 

With the holidays quickly approaching, these calendars would certainly make a great gift!  You could personalize them even more by adding photos!  Check out the SRM Stickers blog today, to see how the other designers created with their calendars!  I swear the SRM girls provide ENDLESS inspiration for me every single day! 

I'm blogging here today if you have a chance to hop on over!  Have a GREAT week!