Reflections Scrapbook Album/Journal #3 - My Favorite Things - Food

Hello Friends! It's interesting because creating a "Reflections Album/Journal" is much easier than I expected. I think because I don't feel the pressure of creating a keepsake for my family. . .the process of creating the layout is so much easier. I care more about getting my thoughts and reflections written down and less so about how it looks. I can't believe how quickly I created this layout!

What am I going to do with my layouts? Well, many times when I look back at my life, I see how things have changed and how many things remain the same. It'll be fun to look back at my layouts, read what I wrote and look at the pictures I've taken. Although many of the pictures are of inanimate objects, they are photos that I have taken with my camera. Many are pictures I've taken using my cel phone and have posted on my Facebook profile. I take a lot of random photos when I'm out and about and many times, they are photos of food I've had for lunch or dinner.


This layout is the first page of "My Favorite Things" series. I'll have different series or topics in my album/journal . . .I think one of them will be "Dreams and Wishes". Anyway. . .about my layout. . .one of my favorite things is "FOOD". I love eating at nice restaurants but I tend to get out of hand sometimes. It's no wonder I need to lose at least 20 lbs. Seriously. . .food is good but it can be bad where my weight is concerned.

Anyway, here is what I journaled on the layout:

One of the things that make me happy is eating good food. Knowing I'll eat something delicious can make a "blue" day into a " beauitful " day. Unfortunately, it's not helping me as far as my weight is concerned.

Luckily, I do tend to eat more sea food than red meat. I don't eat a lot dessert or pastries either but I do occasionally like to treat myself to a nice yummy hot fudge brownie sundae. . .:)

One of the changes I do need to make is to start eating healthier and focus on cooking at home. One day I'll get to that point. Right now. . .well, it's bon apetite for me. . .

It's just a simple journaling/reflections. . .nothing thought provoking or interesting as a matter of fact but I just wanted to reflect a little on one of my favorite things in life. . .:LOL!

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!!

Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C61 - Sketch Challenge

Hello Friends!! Hey we have a fun challenge for you this week at Crazy 4 Challenges! Silke came up with a great sketch for us to follow. . .come join us and play along with us this week. Be sure to stop by Crazy 4 Challenges and check out all the fabulous cards the design team created or stop by their individual blogs. . .:) You will surely be inspired!

* Barbara Anders

* Cindy Haffner
* Frances Byrne
* Jessie Rone
* Joanne Grzelak
* Joycelyn Pelkey
Lynda Benden
* Angela Wood
*Silke Ledlow
* Silke Kittmann
* Tammy Hershberger

Because Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I decided to work on a Thanksgiving card. The image is by Unity Stamps, the designer paper and ribbon are by Stampin Up, and the various embellishments are by K&CO.

I stamped the image on to a beige colored card stock and colored it with my Copic Markers. . I then smudged a bit of blue pastel around the image. That's basically it. The rest of the card is basically following the sketch!

Another short post today. . .I actually don't have anything to talk about. . .LOL! Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!

Christmas Stampin All Year Long #69 Color Challenge - Purple and Silver

Hello Friends! Well it's Friday and it's Christmas Stampin All Year Long Challenge time again! This week Jacqui, one of the DT members, came up with a great color combo to work with! The color combination is "Purple and Silver"! Wow, what a great color combination! Stop by Christmas Stampin All Year Long and check out the awesome cards the design team created!

I decided this would be a great time to heat emboss my image. I did it by using a glittery embossing powder heated on a purple card stock. I cut the snowflake image out and mounted it on a silver foil card stock! I love how it turned out!

I bought the snowflake charms about 6 months ago and I'm so glad I'm finally able to use one of the charms. The charm is by Making Memories.

Just a short post today. Hope you'll play along with us this week!

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday!

My Reflections Scrapbook Album/Journal #1 and #2

Hi Friends! I decided to start a "Reflections Scrapbook Album/Journal". My album/journal will primarily consist of my reflections of the day or week, my goals for the day and future, about me and the daily things I do, and finding gratitude in what is. I'm not a scrapbooker and I've always been a bit intimidated by scrapbooking but I decided that I won't focus on creating layouts that satisfies me "artistically" but to focus on what I write and the pictures that I use.

My first layout is the first layout I've created. I didn't choose the picture of myself because of my "face". . .LOL! Do you see behind at the top of my head. .. well, it's a word art in my craft room and it reflects my life to a great extent. I see that word art every morning and it inspires me. The quote says" Cre-ate: To produce through artistic or imaginative effort. Create and inspire. To make your own." I just love it!




My journaling. . .if you are interested in what I wrote:

Create

I'm happiest when I'm creating.
This is the time when I enter a world of possibilities
Where it's beautiful and filled with color
Where my imagination carries me through different shapes and textures
And time just flies quickly, too quickly at times
Time skips to a happy beat
And all worries and stress disappears even for just a moment
When I'm done
It makes me smile to see that what I've created
Is a reflection of my happiness

This is the second layout/journaling I created. It's basically about my morning routine and a bit of reflection and goal setting.

My journaling says:

My mornings start off with a cup of coffee, turning on my computer, post something on Facebook (LOL), then I walk to my car and view the sunrise as I enter my car to drive my daughter to the bus stop every week day at 6:30 in the morning.

It's good to have a moment where there's a routine and life runs smoothly without a hitch. The rest of the day is always unpredictable and it's something that I need to reassess in m y life. I don't plan my day and basically, fly by the seat of my pants on most days. I found it to be ineffective and although, I like the spontaneity of not having a plan, a bit of planning will help to accomplish more things. It's something I need to work on and a goal I'll set for the new year.

Just to let you know, the sunflower cut and coffee mug digi image can be found at myscrapchick.com

Hope you all have a beautiful Thursday!

Halloween Projects - Altered Basket and Container

Hello Friends!! I actually made these projects last week but forgot to post them on my blog. . .:) The first project is a little wicker basket that I bought at a garage sale and decided to alter into a Halloween basket. All I did was stick on the eyelet lace and add the skeleton embellishments. Super simple and fast project! All the embellishments are from a K&Co scrapbook pack that I bought last year but wasn't able to use up last year. I haven't bought any new Halloween embellishments this year because I'm still trying to use up the ones I bought last year. . .LOL!

With this project. . .I altered a bunch of "Prima" packages that I decided to keep to alter. They work perfectly as treat boxes! Gotta love the pretty packages that embellishments come in, huh? All I did was cover them with designer paper and stuck the scrapbook embellishments on to the design. Again, another fast project. . .this is like a 10 minute project.

This is a close up of the altered "prima" packages. It's a great idea to save the pretty embellishment packages. . they really do come in handy. Well, that is if you actually use them. I once had a thing for saving pretty packages and containers but never get around to making anything with them so they end up only taking up a lot of space. I'm trying to go through my stuff and start using the ones that I saved.

That's it for today. . .I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!!

Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C60 Halloween Challenge

Hello Friends! In one week it'll be Halloween and this week at Crazy 4 Challenges has a fabulous challenge for you! Yup, you guessed right. . .it's a Halloween challenge! How fun!! Be sure to stop by Crazy 4 Challenges and play along with the crazy gals! The team created such cute projects for this Halloween. . .you can see all the cuteness at C4C or stop by the designer's individual blogs:

* Barbara Anders

* Cindy Haffner
* Frances Byrne
* Jessie Rone
* Joanne Grzelak
* Joycelyn Pelkey
Lynda Benden
* Angela Wood
*Silke Ledlow
* Silke Kittmann
* Tammy Hershberger

I was really excited about this challenge because I really wanted to create this Witch Hat Box. The box was cut using myscrapchick.com cutting files!! I love the Halloween Treat Boxes set. . .there's various types of boxes that you can create including Frankie, Dracula, Pumpkin and others!!! Be sure to check out myscrapchic.com . . .there's a ton of Halloween files that you can work with.

Anyway. . .I actually created a bunch of other Halloween projects but I'll post them tomorrow.

Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!

Christmas Stampin All Year Long Challenge #68 - Something Metallic

Hello Friends! Hey . . .it's Christmas Stampin All Year Long challenge time again and this week our proud sponsor is "Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and More"! Their images are adorable and I really had fun working with their image. Stop by Christmas Stampin All Year Long and check out the super cute samples the design team created. Be sure to play along with us this week and you'll have the chance to win 5 Robyn's Fetish digital stamps or 4 digital images and 1 paper set. Now, that's a great reason to play along.



This week's challenge is "Something Metallic". . .basically add a metallic element to your card. You're probably wondering what part of my card is metallic! You can't really see it in the picture but the bell embellishment/sticker is metallic and glittery.

What I did with the image was print it on designer paper and card stock and basically paper pieced it together. The image is not only fun for coloring but also paper piecing. The image I used is "Hot Cocoa" I folded the designer paper in half and traced the image on to the designer to create a hot cocoa card base then paper pieced the other parts of the image.

As you can see, the mug opens up. . .I was going to add an additional liner on the inside but I liked the print of the designer paper showing through the heart so I left it the way it was.

Anyway. . .I had a major blast creating this card! Hope you'll play along with us this week!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday!!!

Pink Cat Studio Digi Stamp Release

Hello Friends!! It's that time again! It's the release of Pink Cat Studio digi images and this week it's about winter and skating! Yipee! The images are so adorable and so fun to work with! Stop by the Pink Cat Studio blog and check out all the fun cards and projects the design team created!!


I added a bit of Stickles to the image. I love using Stickles on my projects. . .the glitter is so pretty! The dp is by DCWV and card stock by SU. I colored my image with my Copic Markers.

This is a wicker basket that I altered and decorated. I actually bought a bunch of wicker baskets at a garage sale with the intention of altering them. I'm so glad I got around to altering it. . .I have a tendency of buying stuff and not using them so it's nice to actually using the basket. All I did was attach the lace and ribbon to the basket using tacky tape. It's a simple project.

Anyway. . .that's it for now. . .I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!

Halloween Gate Fold Double Accordion Mini Album Tutorial

Hello Friends! Sorry for the poor quality of the photos but I created this project over 2 years ago! OMG! I created the tutorial for a Stampin Up club I had a while back but I no longer have the club. I have a lot of tutorials that I have not transferred to this blog. The tutorials were stored on a website that I no longer pay for and well, I have to reconstruct the tutorials so that I can upload them to Scribd. Unfortunately, I am way to lazy or burnt out to reconstruct them all! LOL! But, I decided because it's a Halloween project, this would be a good time to post this tutorial.


The mini album opens up as a "gate-fold" and is held closed with Velcro on the back of the oval panel. The oval is actually optional and you can wrap a ribbon around the album to keep it in the closed position but I prefer the Velcro option.

When opened up, the pages alternate from left to right. It's just a fun way to view the pages.

As you can see the pages are laid out in an alternating fashion. I decided to add a bunch of Halloween photos that I took in the past of my husband and kids. This project may appear "complicated" or "difficult" to create but it's actually quite easy. It's not exactly a "quick" project but try it out anyway. After the first album, it gets a lot easier to create a second one. . .:)

I'm really sorry that I don't post daily on my blog anymore. I'm not sure what my future will be with this blog. I was thinking of taking a few months break after the new year starts but like everything in life, I always change my mind. There was a time when all I wanted to do was create, share, blog and create tutorials but I don't know, I think I'm burning out a little bit with paper crafting. Maybe a few months break will bring back the old feelings. I don't know. . .do you sometimes feel the same way?

I know of a lady who was crafting (wood cut/tole painting) for 25 years and she recently put all her craft stuff on sale. I went over to buy a few things and she had literally a thousand craft books, tons and tons of wood cuts for the tole painting, and a whole bunch of other craft items for sale. I asked her why she was selling all her things and she said that she suddenly. . .almost overnight just no longer had any desire to craft which for me is quite amazing. I still love crafting but I want to grow into other areas of crafting such as crocheting and sewing so maybe that's where I'm heading. .. I don't know. I still love paper crafting and don't think I'll ever stop doing it but I'd like to explore other craft areas. I think that's where I'll be next year. . .:) You know, working with different craft projects, sort of mix bag of various areas of crafting. . .we'll see.

Anyway. . .just sharing my thoughts. Below is the tutorial. You don't need a Facebook account to subscribe to Scribd but you do need to subscribe by providing your email address and a password in order to download or print the tutorial. If you don't want to subscribe, you can view the tutorial directly online on my blog or on Scribd. You have the option to view the tutorial full screen, scroll option, or book option. Email me if you have any questions.

Hope you all have a beautiful Wednesday!!

Gate Fold Double Accordion Mini Album

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C59 - Fall/Autumn Card

Happy Saturday, Friends! This is going to be a long post so I'll get down to business. . .:) It's Saturday so that means. . .what? Crazy 4 Challenges time again and Silke came up with another fun challenge again! This week it's all about Autumn/Fall! Yup, this week's challenge is to create a card or project with an Autumn/Fall theme. Stop by Crazy 4 Challenges and check out all the beautiful cards the design team created. You will surely be inspired. . .or if you want, stop by the individual designers' blogs:

* Barbara Anders

* Cindy Haffner
* Frances Byrne
* Jessie Rone
* Joanne Grzelak
* Joycelyn Pelkey
Lynda Benden
* Angela Wood
*Silke Ledlow
* Silke Kittmann
* Tammy Hershberger

I actually colored this image a long, long time again. . .I believe sometime last year! I'm going to be honest, I have a lot of already colored images just waiting to be used. There was a time when I watched TV with my family, I would color images. . .now, I spend that time crocheting. . :)

I actually stamped the image on drawing paper. . .a bit thinner than card stock. Copic Markers actually works best on drawing paper. . the blending process is much easier and Copic seem to go on smoother. . .you end up using less ink. By itself, the paper is rather thin but if you mat it over card stock, it works out great. Just to let you know the designer papers are by Stampin Up, the embellishments are by K&CO. The stamped image is by Stampin Up as well!

That's it for today. . .hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

Christmas Stampin All Year Long Inspiration Challenge

Hello Friends!! It's Friday! Wonderful! OMG!. . .in less than 3 months, it's going to be Christmas already! I still remember last Christmas. . .time is galloping like crazy! Sometimes I wish it would slow down a bit. There are so many things to do in life . . .I just can't seem to fit into my life everything I want to do. . .I'm sure you all feel the same way.

Well, it's Christmas Stampin All Year Long challenge time again and this week, Pink Cat Studio will be sponsoring us. If you play along, you'll have the chance to win 5 digital images! Wow! The challenge this we is an inspiration challenge. Stop by CSAYL and check out the inspirations photo and the beautiful cards the design team created!!



This card is actually a card I made a while back but I liked how it sort of fits in with the challenge and to be honest, I was so busy crocheting. . .I didn't have the time to create a card so I decided to repost this card. LOL!

Anyway. . .it's another busy day so I better start getting busy!

Hope you all have a beautiful Friday!

Pink Cat Studio Rubber Stamp Release

Hello Friends!! I'm sorry I haven't posted anything for the past few days! Rather than working on cards, I decided to start on a new crochet project. I've never created an afghan before so I decided to try it out. Well, funny me. . .I decided on using a complicated pattern but it's such a pretty pattern. It's a snowflake design afghan. Well, that's what I've been doing the past few days. The afghan requires 33 snowflake motifs. Ahhhhh! I'm half way done and I can't wait to show you the afghan. It's looking pretty good so far!!

The difficult thing about learning a new hobby is that your focus goes into the process of learning new techniques and that's what has been going on with me and my crocheting. It's difficult to focus on 2 or more hobbies with the same intensity. Right now my paper crafting is sort of being neglected but I think it's important to grow and do other things otherwise life gets a bit stale. . .:)

Anyway. . .now to today's post!! It's Pink Cat Studio release day. . .not digital stamps, but rubber stamp release! Yay!! You can grab these cute images both in rubber and digi but I know some of you prefer rubber stamps.

I just realized after making the cards that I went with a pink color scheme. . .must be subliminally I was thinking Breast Cancer month. . .:) With the first card above, the designer paper and card stock is by Stampin Up, the ribbons by American Craft Elements, the embossing by Cuttlebug, and the border design by EK Success.

Just to let you know. . .the white topping on the cupcake is suppose to be a cherry! LOL! I thought it was whip cream. I didn't realize it was a cherry until I saw the other cards created by the design team! To create the whip cream topping, I used Tulips Puffy Paint, heat embossed it and added Stickles Glitter. I also heat embossed the whole cupcake image with clear embossing powder to give it a shiny effect. You can see the shiny effect in the next picture.


As you can see, the cupcake is shiny. . .:) I also added a bit of Stickles for the sprinkles.

Be sure to stop by the Pink Cat Studio blog and check out all the fabulous cards created by the design team.

My goal this weekend is to finish up the afghan and hopefully, I can blog it some time next week!

Hope you all have a beautiful Thursday!!!